Music For Love
by LoveNiaImani
Summary: This is an AU story. Fitz & Olivia had a summer fling 15 years ago. After their summer both went on to live their separate lives. Fitz is a single, successful songwriter & producer. Olivia is a single mom & owner of a public relations/crisis management firm. When Olivia's daughter auditions for a spot in a performing arts school, Fitz & Olivia's paths cross again.
1. Introduction

**A/N: Hello all! I'm back with another story, sorta. I didn't put this one with my one shots because honestly, I feel like I have a story here that is a little bigger than a one shot. I actually was sitting down to finish an update to my story Just Friends & listening to Seinabo Sey(seriously, if you haven't heard of her listen to her). I got distracted on tumblr & came across a post with pictures of beauty from around the world. As I was scrolling, I reached a girl from Columbia & when I saw her, this story popped into my head so I just started writing. I have been toying around with writing Olitz with a teenage child for awhile but a lot of people have the long lost child story so I didn't want to add to the pile until now I guess lol. This is an AU story with Fitz being a songwriter/producer who had a summer fling with Olivia Pope 15 years ago when they were kids(she was 18 & he was 20). Fast forward 15 years & they have not seen each other past their summer & that is were this story picks up. So tell me if you want me to go further with this idea that just came to me four hours ago.**

* * *

 **Music For Love; Introduction**

"My mom is going to kill me."

"No she is not?"

"Have you met my mother? She is going to kill me and then get away with my murder."

"You are overreacting," Mia said as she looked at her friend.

"Why? Why did I let you talk me into this?"

"Layla Grace," a tall, slender brunette called her name.

"Here she is," Mia stood and pulled Layla up.

The brunette looked at both young girls.

"Are you going to throw up? You look like you are going to throw up?"

"No. I'm fine," Layla said nervously.

The brunette walked away and Layla looked at Mia. Mia nudged her forward and both girls hurried to follow behind the brunette. They caught up to her in time for her to open a big black door.

"Mr. Grant, Layla Grace and her friend," the brunette introduced before exiting the room.

"Mia," she said as she shook Fitzgerald Grant's hand.

"Fitzgerald Grant," Fitz smiled as he shook her hand.

Layla looked around the big office in awe of all of the platinum plaques and Grammys.

"You must be Layla," Fitz extended his hand.

"Yes," Layla shook his hand nervously, "That's me." She held his hand longer than she should have.

Layla pulled her hand away, "I'm sorry. I'm not normally this weird. I'm just super nervous."

"There is nothing to be nervous about. I hear you are super talented."

"She is. She sings and plays the piano and violin," Mia says.

"Wow," Fitz nodded impressed, "Do you dance too?"

"A little," Layla said nonchalantly.

"You missed our auditions in DC," Fitz stated.

"Yeah."

"Why? If you are serious about getting into this program, why did you miss the audition and why should I give you a chance right now?"

"I don't go to the school of the arts so I wasn't allowed to audition. That's why I missed it. And you should give me a chance because I skipped school and took a train to New York for the chance to audition. Even if I don't get it, you should give me a chance because if my mom catches me, she is going to kill me and if I am going to potentially die, I need for this trip to at least be worth it," Layla spoke all in one breath.

Fitz looked at her.

"You skipped school."

"Yes," Layla said cautiously.

Fitz was quiet and she became nervous. She was mentally killing herself for thinking that her long movie style explanation would even be something that he cared about. Layla knew that she should never have come here.

"As the adult in the room, I should tell you not to skip school. It is bad. Don't do that again," Fitz said.

"I won't."

"You remind me a lot of myself. You want something, you go after it, screw the rules. I respect that."

Layla mentally prepared herself for the "but" that she felt was coming after that sentence.

"You have two minutes to impress me."

"Um, okay," that wasn't what Layla was expecting but she was elated. She quickly pulled herself together, "I'm going to sing 'Turning Tables' by Adele."

"Those are some big shoes you picked to fill," Fitz said.

"I can handle it," Layla said confidently.

Layla handed her things to Mia and took a few deep breaths before turning back to Fitz. She started the song and sang as if her life depended on it, which it actually did. Fitz was lost in the sound of her voice. He had never in his life, heard anyone sound as amazing as the young lady standing before him. Long before anyone in the room knew it, the two minutes he had given her to impress him had and she ended up singing the whole song.

When she was done, Mia clapped loudly causing Layla to blush and look down.

"I told you she was super talented," Mia said.

"That she is," Fitz stared at her in awe.

* * *

Layla walked into her house after 6pm. Her mother was sitting in the living room surrounded by her laptop and a bunch of papers.

"Hey mom," Layla said as she walked in.

"Hey baby," Olivia said not looking up from her laptop, "How was school?"

"It was school. Gym sucks. Lunch is bad. Work is hard. Boys are average."

"So nothing exciting happened today?" Olivia looked up at her daughter.

"No," Layla shook her head.

"I would think a trip to New York on a school day would be pretty exciting but I guess we are different people," Olivia said with a smile.

"How did you…," Layla didn't finish her question.

"You're school called and I have Huck," Olivia looked at her daughter, "What is going on? Are you doing drugs?"

"No. That was an extreme."

"So is skipping school and going to another state for a day."

"Mia got me an audition. There is this new music program at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts and I went on the chance that maybe I could get in."

Olivia rubbed her temples.

"Mom, I know that you don't want to go to that school but it is a really good program and I had to take the chance. I'm sorry I skipped school. It won't happen again."

"It is not that I don't want you to go to that school. It is that you have never shown any real interest in making music your career. You sing in the shower, beautifully. You play piano around here but you have never came to me and said, 'Mom, I want to make music'. You treat it like a hobby so I treat it like a hobby."  
"Well, I'm 15. Right now, I don't want to be some superstar musician and I can't say that I want to be in the future but I love singing and writing and I'm really good at both."

Olivia nodded.

"Okay. If this is something you are really interested in then we'll see."

"Thank you, mom!" Layla threw her arms around her mother and hugged her tightly. "I don't know if I'm going to get it but my audition went really well. I'll know in a few days if I was chosen to participate in a two day singing workshop. After the workshop, they will pick the students who will be selected to join the program."

Layla explained the details of the music program to her mother. Olivia sat and listened, intently. She had never heard her daughter speak so passionately about music before. Olivia knew that Layla had a gift when it came to singing, it came honest given who her father was but never had she talked about music the way she was doing now.

* * *

"Listen, I'm not trying to pull my weight around here but I want her in this program," Fitz said adamantly.

"The rules were clear cut. This is only for students of Duke Ellington," Elizabeth North, one of the music program board members said.

"Screw the rules, Lizzie. This kid super talented and it makes no sense to keep her from the program just because she isn't currently enrolled in the school. We are supposed to be molding and shaping young minds, aren't we?"

"It is simply not fair to our other students, who are in enrolled if we open this program up for just anyone."

"I don't want it opened up for anyone, I want it opened up for her."

"Why?"

"Because she came to New York to see me on a school day and she can sing her ass off."

"You seem really invested in this," Elizabeth looked down at the file in front of her, "Layla Pope."

"Look, I'm not trying to come in here and shake things up. I just want to work with really talented kids. I know you have a lot of them here but this girl, I'm vouching for her. Either she gets a chance or you don't have me to produce music."

The room got quiet, and Fitz just sat there. He had played his biggest card and he knew that they had no choice but to let Layla into the program.

* * *

"Mom, guess what?" Layla asked out of breath.

She had ran up four flights of stairs instead of waiting for the elevator because she couldn't wait to tell her mother, the good news.

"Hi. Hello. How are you?" Olivia looked at her daughter.

"Hey. Hello. I'm fine. Guess what?"

"What?" Olivia chuckled shaking her head.

"I got picked to be a part of the workshop for Duke Ellington! AH!" Layla screamed.

"That's awesome! I'm some excited for you," Olivia stood up and hugged her daughter.

"I have to pick some songs and practice because these kids have had all year. I'm nervous but happy."

"You have nothing to be worried about."

"You're only saying that because you're my mom."

"You have nothing to be worried about."

Olivia and Layla both turned in the direction of the deep male voice. Olivia felt like the world stopped. She stared at the man. It had been years but it was no mistaken that it was him. Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III was standing in her office.

"Mom, this is Fitzgerald Grant. He is a Grammy award winning songwriter and producer. He is running the music program at Duke Ellington. Mr. Grant, this is my mom, Olivia Pope."

Fitz stared at Olivia. It had been years since he last saw her but here she was. Her hair was longer and she had lost some weight but here was his doe eyed, Livvie.

"Hi," he voice cracked when he spoke.

"Hi," her voice matched his.

Layla looked between the two.

"Are you guys okay?"


	2. Teenage Love Affair

**A/N: Thank you for all of the reviews on this story. I love that you guys care enough and want me to continue. I am really having fun with playing around with this story. The ideas keep flowing and I hope that continues. I just want to make a note that I mentioned the Duke Ellington School of the Arts as the school that Layla is trying to get into. I literally just googled performing arts schools in DC so yes, it is a real school but I have never been to a performing arts school so everything written about the school is purely my imagination. Also for the sake of this story, I want you to think of Fitz singing voice sounding like John Mayer or Maverick Sabre(if you listen to "H** **ard On Me" by Gorgon City & Maverick Sabre, you will get the perfect voice that I am hearing for Fitz singing voice). Both guys have really amazing music that I have been listening to during my writing process so either voice works for Fitz. Last thing, if you have any songs that you think I should check out or that just make you think about Olitz, leave them in the comments. I am always in search of new songs to inspire my writing and with this story being about music, it could really help.**

* * *

 **Teenage Love Affair**

" _Want have your voice in my ear til ma comes and says it's too late._ _C_ _ause the lights are on outside. Wish there was somewhere to hide cause I just don't want to say goodbye. Cause you are my baby, baby. Nothing really matters. I don't really care. What nobody tells me. I'm gonna be here. It's a matter of extreme importance. My first teenage love affair._ "—Alicia Keys

* * *

"Are you guys okay?"

Olivia looked at her daughter, "Yeah. We're fine."

Layla and Fitz looked at her.

"Mia brought Mr. Grant here because he wanted to tell me in person that I got picked to participate in the music workshop."

Olivia finally noticed Mia standing in the doorway.

"Hey Ms. Pope," Mia waved.

"Hey Mia."

Olivia was momentarily flustered at the sight of Fitz but she attempted to play it off and pull herself together.

"I guess it really is a small world, Livvie."

"That it is."

Layla watched her mom and Fitz. There was a familiarity there that she could not quite put her finger on. He called her mom, "Livvie". She had never heard anyone call her that. They had to know each other.

"You two met before?" Layla asked.

"Yeah. A long time ago," Olivia said.

* * *

 **June 29, 1999**

 _Olivia looked around for her mother's car. She had called her mother the night before to tell her what time her flight was landing and her mother promised to be at the airport on time. Olivia tapped her foot impatiently and looked around once more. When she didn't spot her mother, Olivia pulled her luggage toward the area that held the pay phones. As she fumbled with her wallet, she heard a familiar male voice calling her name. Looking in the direction of the voice, Olivia saw her stepfather Dominic Bell._

 _"Liv," he greeted with a hug, "You cut your hair," he added when he pulled away from their embrace._

 _"It was my first adult decision." For her 18th birthday, Olivia decided she wanted a change so she cut off most of her shoulder length hair and was now wearing it in its natural curly state._

 _"I bet your father loves it," Dominic joked as he grabbed her bags._

 _"He is dealing," Olivia shrugged, "I thought my mom was coming to meet me."_

 _"She got caught up finishing a project for work so she called me."_

 _Olivia nodded and followed Dominic to the car. They loaded her luggage and then headed to her home away from home._

* * *

 _Olivia laid across her bed smiling as she listened to her four year old brother Nicolas attempt to tell her everything that happened in his life since she saw him last summer._

 _"Shane doesn't believe that I have a big sister because you don't live with me but I told him you have a different dad so you stay with him. Can you meet Shane so he can stop calling you my imaginary sister?"_

 _"Sure," she giggled._

 _"Do you know the president? Mommy says you live where the president lives so you have to know him since you stay in the same house. Or maybe you don't because that's a big house. Do you see the president all the time? Is he nice?"_

 _Olivia smiled at all of his questions._

 _"I don't live with the president. I live in the same city," Olivia informed him, "We're like neighbors."_

 _"Does he ever come by and borrow sugar? Our neighbors borrow sugar."_

 _"No, the president does not borrow sugar."_

 _"Oh. He probably has lots of sugar."_

 _"He probably does."_

 _Nicolas stared at Olivia for a long moment._

 _"What's on your mind, Nicky?"_

 _"Mommy says you're an adult now but you seem the same."_

 _"I am the same."_

 _"Do you still like to color?"_

 _"I love to color."_

 _"I have a new superhero coloring book," he said excitedly, "Do you want to color with me?"_

 _"I thought you would never ask."_

 _"I'll be right back."_

 _Nicolas jumped off of his sister's bed and ran out of the room to collect his coloring supplies._

* * *

 _"I'm coming," Fitz yelled to whoever was banging loudly on his door. He swung the door open and sighed as he came face to face with his best friend Derek. "Are you dying?"_ _Fitz asked, walking back to the living room._

 _"Close to it," Derek let out a breath, "I need a HUGE favor."_

 _Fitz eyed his friend as he sat down, picking up his bowl of cereal._

 _"Sean got food poisoning and is not able to do the show tonight," Derek ran his fingers through his hair nervously._

 _"Okay," Fitz stated calmly._

 _"I need you to take his place."_

 _"Nope."_

 _"What do you mean 'nope'?"_

 _"I mean no, not going to happen, I'm not doing it."_

 _"Why?"_

 _"You know I hate performing."_

 _"I get that. I understand completely but I need you to do this for me. It is our first paying gig in the last three months and I need this. The band needs this. As my friend, you have to do this for me."_

 _Fitz was hesitant and said nothing._

 _"Fitzgerald, do you want me to beg you? Because I will. I will get on my knees and beg you."_

 _Fitz sighed, "No, I don't want you to beg."_

 _"So you will do it?"_

 _"I haven't played in a while."_

 _"You could play with your elbows and it would be fine."_

 _"I don't know the songs."_

 _"I came prepared," Derek reached in his bag and pulled out a CD and tossed it to me. Fitz caught the CD and looked at it. "That is all the songs we will be performing tonight."_

 _"And you expect me to do, what with this exactly?"_

 _"I expect you to do what you do. You know the whole listen and take in thing that you do with music."_

 _Fitz had a true gift when it came to music. He could listen to a song a few times and pick up on the key notes and in 10 minutes, he would be able to play the song full out on his guitar._

 _Fitz never thought of himself as being a music lover. He listened to music like everyone else but being rhythmically challenged young boy, music was not something that was important to him. After his mother passed away, while cleaning out some of her things, Fitz stumbled upon a box of old albums. His dad pulled out a record player and had a good time reminiscing about his wife and her love of music. Fitz learned things that he never knew about his mom by just sitting down and talking to his dad. They bonded over her memory and her love of music and that moment started his love of music. After hearing "Sunshine of Your Love" by Cream and discovering guitarist Eric Clapton, Fitz was inspired to pick up a guitar and start playing._

 _It was like playing was what Fitz was meant to do because it came as easy as breathing for him. He taught himself to play and in a matter of two years, Fitz had developed a real love of playing and writing music. Fitz was never a performer though, despite having the total package needed for success—he was good looking, charming, a phenomenal guitar player, he wrote amazing songs, and could sing—but he hated performing in front of crowds because to him, his music was something personal. Every time he played or wrote a song, it was like it was his bridge of connecting him back to him mom. He fell in love with music because of her. He played for her. He made music that he knew she would love as a hobby, something to clear his mind when he was stressed._

 _He had only ever performed once before and it was when Derek had signed him up for the school talent show as a joke. Derek had no idea that Fitz was good at playing guitar and singing. Fitz of course didn't want to do it but his father encouraged him to do it. So Fitz performed and blew everyone away. Derek was shocked and when he saw how the girls flocked to Fitz, he decided he wanted to be a rock star. Performing that first time was what made Fitz feel like he had something to share with the world with his music._

 _"I can't make any promises but I'll try," Fitz said._

 _"Sound check is at 6. I'll be back at 5 to pick you up. Any questions you have, we can discuss them then."_

 _With that Derek left, leaving Fitz alone with the music._

* * *

 _The moment Olivia entered the kitchen, she was met by a scream of her name and arms squeezing her._

 _"Hey Shelly," Olivia hugged her cousin Rochelle back, "I take it you missed me."_

 _Olivia and Rochelle grew up like sisters since both were only children at the time. They were both born in New York, seven months apart with Rochelle being older. They had been inseparable up until Olivia's parents separated when she was 12. After her parents divorced, her mother Maya moved to the west coast and Olivia and her dad stayed on the east coast but moved to DC. Rochelle and Olivia still stayed close by spending the holidays together and a few times when Olivia spent the summers with her mom, Rochelle would tag along._

 _Rochelle had fell in love with the west coast on her visits with Liv and her extended family so she decided to move out here to attend college a year earlier._

 _"You know I did," Rochelle released her, "I was just telling aunt Maya how I'm kidnapping you tonight."_

 _"What?"_

 _"We're going out so go back a bag."_

 _"I don't know. I just got in," Olivia was hesitant._

 _"Go," Maya interjected, "You have all summer to hang around here with us."_

 _"You sure?"_

 _"Yeah. Have fun."_

 _"Okay," Olivia turned to Rochelle, "Give me ten minutes."_

 _Olivia left the room and went to go pack an overnight bag._

* * *

 _"Olivia, whatever you do, please don't be a prude or a saint tonight," Rochelle said as she added the finishing touches to her makeup._

 _"I am never a prude or a saint," Olivia yelled from the bathroom._

 _"I just need you to be a go with the flow type of a girl tonight," Rochelle said._

 _"I know how to have fun."_

 _"You also know how to be a buzzkill and I want none of that tonight," Rochelle looked at herself in the mirror, "I'm trying to get free drinks, small conversation, and a good fuck."_

 _"What am I supposed to be doing while you're getting your 'good fuck'?"_

 _"Hopefully you'll be getting one too."_

 _Olivia didn't respond because she didn't want to sound like a prude but the chances of her meeting some random guy and sleeping with him were never going to happen. You would have a better chance of seeing pigs fly in hell on a cold day before you saw Olivia sleep with some random dude for the sake of having fun. She and her cousin were different in that way. Rochelle had lost her virginity at 16 and some of the stories she told Olivia about her sexual encounters made Olivia wonder how they could be the offspring of two siblings. It was clear that Eli and Eva Pope had very different parenting styles._

 _Olivia walked out of the bathroom, "Because you didn't tell me where we are going, I hope my outfit is okay."_

 _Rochelle mouth dropped open. Olivia had on a red one shouldered body con dress with diagonal strips on it and four inch black peep toe heels._

 _"I guess my outfit is fine," Olivia judged by her cousin's outfit. Rochelle had on a gold and cream sequin dress with her back out and cream colored heels._

 _"Olivia Carolyn Pope! Look at you! If uncle Eli saw you he would die. I love it," Rochelle said excitedly._

 _"He is not as strict as you think."_

 _"I'm actually really proud of you right now. I didn't know you had it in you, girl!"_

 _"Rochelle, you don't know my life."_

 _"I can see that, sexy. We're going to have so much fun tonight."_

* * *

 _"Who are you looking for?"_

 _"My friend. He said he was going to try to see me before he hits the stage," Rochelle looked around the room._

 _"You have a friend who is performing here?"_

 _"Yeah. His band is performing."_

 _"So we're being groupies tonight?" Rochelle nodded. "Have you slept with him?"_

 _"What kind of a woman do you take me for?" Olivia stared at her. "No. I haven't slept with him. He is legit my friend. He use to date the girl I was rooming with at school. She knew that I wasn't from around here so she use to drag me to all the shows his band was doing and we became friends."_

 _"I get the feeling that they aren't together anymore."_

 _"They're not. She cheated on him and when he found out he left her. She had like a nervous breakdown and dropped out of school in the middle of last semester. She never came back from spring break," Rochelle chuckled._

 _"That's not funny. Are you sure she is alive?"_

 _"Yeah, she's fine," Rochelle waived her off._

 _"Is there bad blood there?"_

 _"Before she left she tried to cuss me out for still being friends with her ex. She did not know I was from New York and having none of her shit. I ripped her a new one and needless to say, there was nothing there after are argument. She was a spoiled, entitled little whore who thought the world revolved around her. She got mad at him for not taking her back after she cheated and then mad at me because I didn't co-sign her bullshit. Fuck her."_

 _"Well, thanks for telling me how you really feel," Olivia laughed._

 _"You know I always will," she laughed._

 _In the mist of their laughing, they missed the pair of guys approaching them. It wasn't until a pair of hands covered Rochelle's eyes did they became aware that they weren't alone anymore._

 _"Guess who?"_

 _"Someone who wants to die for sneaking up on me."_

 _"Damn Shelly, why you have to be so violent?"_

 _"Cause you play too much and a girl has to protect herself in these dangerous streets."_

 _Olivia and the guy who walked up with Rochelle's friend, stared at the pair as they went into their own little world of banter and playing catch up. After a minute or so, the other guy stuck his hand out to Olivia._

 _"Hi, I'm Fitz," he introduced himself with a beautiful boyish grin._

 _"Hi," Olivia was momentarily rendered speechless when she got a better look at the guy, "Olivia," she said when she found her voice again._

 _It was Fitz's turn to be rendered speechless. He hadn't noticed her beauty with Derek and her friend standing in the middle of them. But now that he had moved closer to introduce himself, he was brought face to face with the most beautiful woman he had ever seen._

 _Fitz studied her features, from her short curly hair to the softest looking brown doe eyes, her full lips, that seemed to be inviting him to kiss her. The way that the red dress she had on clung to her body. He took her in, committing this very moment to his memory._

 _Fitz noticed her eyebrows furrow and he realized that he hadn't let go of her hand._

 _"Sorry," he said as he released her hand._

 _She smiled politely at him and looked back over to Rochelle who was still talking and hadn't notice the moment between her and Fitz. Olivia cleared her throat and Rochelle finally looked over at her._

 _"Hello, I'm Olivia," Olivia shook the guys hand, "Rochelle's cousin."_

 _"Derek," he shook her hand, "I've heard a lot about you, Liv."_

 _"Oh, have you?" Olivia looked over to her cousin._

 _"What can I say, I missed you!"_

 _"Shelly, this is my best friend, Fitz. He is filling in for Sean tonight."_

 _"What happened to Sean?"_

 _"Food poisoning."_

 _"Is that what they are calling it these days?" Rochelle laughed._

 _"Don't do him like that, Shell."_

 _Olivia and Fitz watched the two get lost in their own little world again._

 _"It's a good thing you're here or I would feel like I was intruding," Olivia said to Fitz._

 _"I never seen him like this."_

 _"Twenty dollars say they grow old and have at least one kid together," Olivia held her hand out._

 _"It's a losing chance on my side but I'll take," Fitz took her hand and sealed their bet._

 _"You do know that we can hear y'all, right?" Shelly asked._

 _"Yeah," Olivia nodded, "That was the point since you both seem to be forgetting the other two people at the table."_

 _Derek looked at Olivia._

 _"I like you," he nodded, "What's your favorite song?"_

 _"That's an impossible question to answer. People like songs for the feelings it can invoke in them. Since we don't always feel the same it is hard to pick a favorite song because whatever song you pick can change when your feelings change," Olivia said._

 _Derek looked and Fitz and smiled and nodded before returning his attention back the Olivia._

 _"Give us a song and we'll add it to the set for you," Derek said._

 _"Any genre?"_

 _"Anything you want. Old or new, it doesn't matter."_

 _"Do I get a song too?" Rochelle asked._

 _"Of course."_

 _Rochelle thought for a second, "My middle name Maria so I really like that new Carlos Santana song, 'Maria, Maria'. Do you know it?"_

 _"I do," Derek looked at Olivia, "And you?"_

 _"Knocks Me Off My Feet by Stevie Wonder."_

 _"Awesome choices!" Derek said enthusiastically. "Our show is going to start soon so we have to go but we'll hang after."_

 _Derek and Fitz disappeared into the crowd and Olivia turned to face her cousin._

 _"Are you sure there is nothing going on with you two?"_

 _"We flirt and bullshit but nothing serious. I told you he got cheated on, he is still hurt from that. I'm a great distraction and he is good company but neither one of us has tried anything." Rochelle looked around, "We better find our seats before they're taken."_

 _Olivia and Rochelle moved towards the stage in search of a table near the front of the bar._

* * *

 _Fitz was in the zone. Any nerves he had about performing were thrown out by the second song that the band had played. Once getting in the grove, he forgot that the people were even there—well he forgot everyone except her._

 _They band played covers of classic R &B, blues, and a few rock songs, while mixing in some of their own music. They were in the middle of playing 'Maria, Maria' and Fitz was loving it for more reasons than one. He was enjoying the playing such a guitar heavy song but he enjoyed watching Olivia's hips move to the music as she danced and sang the words to the song along with Rochelle._

 _When the song ended there were applause and cheers from all around the room. Once the applause died down, Derek started to speak._

 _"For our last two songs we're taking it back. I'm talking old school classics," he paused and took a sip of water, "Before we start the last two songs, I want to tell you all a little story. If you look to the left you will see this amazing guitarist," Derek pointed to Fitz. "This is my best friend, Fitz and he is filling in with us tonight because our guitarist Sean got sick. I literally came running to this dude at 11am and begged him to play with us. He learned all of our songs and prepared to play in less than five hours. And for someone who was worried since he hadn't played in a while, I think he played pretty damn well. Don't you?"_

 _The crowd cheered loudly and Fitz looked a little bashful, like he wasn't use to all the attention. Olivia thought her looked adorable so she cheered even louder._

 _"Believe it or not this is only the second time Fitz has performed. Coincidentally both times was because of me. I was an asshole in 8th grade and I signed him up for the school talent show as a joke. Little did I know, my best friend was a musical genius. He is the reason that I got into making music so thanks man." Fitz nodded and smiled but didn't say anything. "Because I'm still an asshole or I'm just a guy who wants my friend's amazing talents to be showcased, I'm putting him on the spot again."_

 _Fitz face dropped but he still said nothing._

 _"This next song is classic and since I am talented but not a genius like this guy," he pointed at Fitz, "I'm going to let him take the lead. This song is dedicated to the pretty lady in the red dress," Derek pointed at Olivia. All eyes were on Olivia and when she looked over at Rochelle, she was grinning mischievously. Olivia blushed but tried to act normal._

 _Derek put the mic back on the stand and took a step back. As Fitz passed him, he whispered, "I hate you so much."_

 _"When you two get married, you'll thank me. Now go knock them dead."_

 _Fitz stepped up to the mic and cleared his throat, "You're definitely an asshole," he said as he looked at Derek. He turned back to the crowd and began to speak, "As Derek said I wasn't prepared to do anything but play guitar to help out a friend so forgive me if this awful because I'm not a performer but here goes. This is 'Knocks Me Off My Feet' by Stevie Wonder."_

 _Fitz took a step back and started to play his guitar. He played the intro to the song twice and the second time, he leaned in and began singing, "I see us in the park. Strolling the summer days of imaginings in my head. And words from our hearts. Told only to the wind felt even without being said. I don't want to bore you with my trouble. But there's something 'bout your love. That makes me weak and knocks me off my feet. There's something 'bout your love that makes me weak and knocks me off my feet. Knocks me off my feet. I don't want to bore you with it. Oh but I love you, I love you, I love you. I don't want to bore you with it. Oh but I love you, I love you, I love you. More and more…"_

 _Olivia was mesmerized as he sang and played the guitar with no help from the band. She didn't know what to expect when she heard that Fitz was going to sing but she didn't expect the raspy soulful voice that blessed her ears. Olivia felt like putty in his hands. She couldn't do anything but watch him as he sang to her—he wasn't singing to her, was he? It felt like he was._

 _When Fitz was finished the song the erupted in loud cheers and applause. Everyone was cheering around them but Olivia and Fitz could do nothing but stare at each other._

* * *

 _Olivia and Rochelle joined Fitz, Derek, and the rest of the band members for late dinner and then they ended up at the beach. Somehow more people came and drinks were brought in and the group ended up having a small beach party._

 _As everyone broke off into smaller groups to talk and mingle, Olivia and Fitz sat by bonfire watching the others dance and talk._

 _"You're not a drinker, are you?" Fitz asked to break the silence after noticing that Olivia had been sitting with the same drink in her hand for the last hour._

 _"I never really drank before. I've had champagne on New Years and last month on my birthday I tasted wine for the first time."_

 _"Happy belated birthday."_

 _"Thanks."_

 _The fell into silence again, this time Olivia was the one to break it._

 _"How long have you been playing guitar?"_

 _"Eight years."_

 _"Are your parents musicians who pushed you to play? Cause I don't know anyone who is as good as you but hates to perform."_

 _"No. My mom was a teacher and my dad is an architect. When my mom passed away I found some of her old albums and got inspired to play."_

 _"Oh," her voice sounded sad, "I'm sorry…about your mom, not you finding your gift."_

 _"Time is slowly healing the wounds," he gave a weak smile, "The music also helps."_

 _Olivia didn't want to focus on his mother's passing so she changed the subject._

 _"Are you from around here?"_

 _"Born and raised," Fitz said proudly. "Where are you from?"_

 _"New York. Born and partially raised in the Bronx."_

 _"Ah, the boogie down Bronx," Fitz said. Olivia chuckled. "What?"_

 _"Nothing," she stopped laughing._

 _"No. Go ahead."_

 _"I just didn't just expect you to say that."_

 _"Why because I'm white?"_

 _"No. I…I didn't mean," Olivia stuttered._

 _"It's fine," Fitz laughed._

 _"You listen to rap?"_

 _"I do. I listen to lots of music."_

 _"Who do you listen to?"_

 _"Nas, Pac, KRS-One, Biggie, Jay-Z, Big Daddy Kane, Snoop, Common, Twista, I listen to a lot a different people."_

 _Olivia looked at him suspiciously._

 _"You don't believe me?"_

 _"No, it's not that. It is just surprising."_

 _"Pick a song, don't tell me the name, start the lyric and I'll finish it."_

 _Olivia thought for a second and then started to rap a song._

 _"Imagine smoking weed in the streets without cops harassing. Imagine going to court with no trial. Lifestyle cruising blue behind my waters. No welfare supporters more conscious of the way we raise our daughters."_

 _"Days are shorter, nights are colder. Feeling like life is over, these snakes strike like a cobra. The world's hot my son got knocked evidentially. It's elementary, they want us all gone eventually. Trooping out of state for a plate knowledge of coke was cooked without the garbage we'd all have the top dollars. Imagine everybody flashing, fashion. Designer clothes, lacing your click up with diamond vogues. Your people holding dough, no parole. No rubbers, go in raw imagine law with no under covers. Just some thoughts for the mind. I take a glimpse into time watch the blimp read 'The World Is Mine'," Fitz rapped, "Nas featuring Lauryn Hill, If I Ruled The Word. That was easy. You want to give me something a little harder?"_

 _"Don't get cocky." Olivia took her time thinking about the next song. "Okay, I got it," she clapped her hands together and sat up before she started to rap the lyrics to the next song, "I lived in a spot called Millbrooke Projects. The original Criminal Minded rap topic. With twenty cents in my pocket I saw the light. If you're young, gifted, and black, you got no rights. Your only true right, is a right to a fight and not a fair fight. I wake up wondering who died last night. Everyone and everything is at war. Making my poetic expression hardcore."_

 _Fitz bit his lip as took a minute to think. He smiled and Olivia knew he must have figured it out._

 _"I ain't afraid to say it, and many can't get with it. At times in my life, I was a welfare recipient. I ate the free cheese, while the church said believe and went to school every day, like a God damn fool. Well anyway, here I am, chilling at the party. Brothers looking at me like they wanna kill somebody. A cypher manifested in the center of the jam. I got to show these wack rappers really who I am. It's me against them, so I clear the phlegm and wage the war, hardcore to the end. For someone looking inside, yeah from the out it seems like disrespect is what rap is all about. But hip-hop as a culture, is really what we give it. But sometimes the culture contradicts how we live it cause every black kid lives two and three lives. The city's a jungle, only the strong will survive," Fitz rapped proudly. "R.E.A.L.I.T.Y. by KRS-One."_

 _"Okay, you know your shit."_

 _"I know a little bit," Fitz said modestly._

 _"You're full of surprises, Fitz and I like that."_

* * *

 **July 4, 1999**

 _Olivia walked alongside the lake with Nicolas looking for a spot to lay out their blanket. Today all of the residents on with homes that surrounded the lake were getting together for a big fourth of July barbecue. Olivia loved the idea because in all the years that she visited her mother, she had only ever met one set of neighbors because all of the houses were so spaced out. It was nice to finally see all the people who lived around them._

 _While Dominic and her mother busied themselves with cooking and talking to their neighbors, Olivia was keeping an eye on her little brother. Nicolas wanted to go swimming to show Olivia what he had learned since last year, when she was first teaching him to swim._

 _Olivia found a spot and laid their blanket down. They sat down waiting for Nicolas's friend to the join them before they got in the water._

 _"I have been practicing a lot and I can hold my breath under water but mommy doesn't like when I do that. She says it scares her."_

 _Olivia loved listening to her little brother talk. He always had a lot of stories to tell and his innocence about the world and curiosity about everything excited her._

 _"Mom said you use to be on the swim team so I said I was going to be on the swim team and be really good because you were teaching me."_

 _Before Olivia had a chance to respond some called Nicolas's name. Upon seeing his friend, Nicolas jumped up and ran over to him. In a matter of seconds the pair ran over to Olivia._

 _"See, I told you she was real," Nicolas said._

 _Olivia smiled at the two._

 _"You're pretty," Shane said._

 _"Thank you."_

 _"He has good taste."_

 _Olivia looked up and was surprised to see Fitz._

 _"What are you doing here?"_

 _"I'm on kid duty until his mom gets here," he pointed at Shane._

 _"You live around here?"_

 _"Across the lake," Fitz took a seat on the blanket next to her._

 _Nicolas eyed Fitz and took a seat in the middle of Olivia and Fitz._

 _"Olivia, we are not supposed to talk to strangers. Stranger is danger. He can be an act murderer," Nicolas warned._

 _"Axe murder," she corrected, "And I know him."_

 _"How?" He didn't wait for her to respond before he turned to Fitz, "Who are you and how do you know my sister?"_

 _"I'm Fitz and I met your sister the other night."_

 _Nicolas turned to Olivia and whispered loudly, "Olivia, if you just met him you don't know him long enough to know if he is an axe murderer."_

 _Olivia and Fitz were both trying to keep from laughing. Nicolas being protective over his big sister was adorable._

 _"He is nice. He gives me ice cream and chocolate chip pancakes," Shane says._

 _"How do you know him?"_

 _"My mommy works with his dad."_

 _Nicolas turned to face Fitz._

 _"If he says your nice then your nice but I'm watching you."_

 _"Okay."_

 _"Do you swim?"_

 _"I do."_

 _"If you want to talk to my sister then you have to go swimming because she is swimming with me and Shane."_

 _"I didn't bring my swim close but I guess we are swimming," Fitz stood up and took off his shirt and shoes, Nicolas and Shane did the same. "Last one in is a rotten eye," Fitz ran and Nicolas and Shane raced after him._

 _Olivia smiled as she watched them all jump into the water. This was going to be an interesting summer._

* * *

 **Present Day**

"He just walked into my office. I didn't know what to do or say," Olivia said frantically, finally taking a breath.

After seeing Fitz show up in her office, Olivia rushed to her father. She needed him. He had to tell her what to do because she was at a loss and her mind was not functioning properly.

Eli Pope sat quiet, trying to process all that his daughter just told him. Never had Olivia given him an explanation or a name of the man who was Layla's father, all he knew was that his granddaughter was the result of a summer fling. He was too upset and disappointed that his daughter had gotten pregnant at 18, that he didn't ask questions. He chose to ignore it until he laid eyes on his grandbaby. Her whole pregnancy was a blur and Eli regretted not getting involved sooner than he did but he tried to make up for it by being a supportive father once Layla was born.

"You have to tell him," was the first words he said, "You have to tell both of them. Before you allow them to be in the same space together, you have to them the truth."


	3. Gravity

**Gravity**

" _Gravity is working against me_ _._ _And gravity wants to bring me down_ _._ _Oh I'll never know what makes this man_ _w_ _ith all the love that his heart can stand_ _, d_ _ream of ways to throw it all away_ _._ _Oh, gravity is working against me_ _._ _And gravity wants to bring me down_ _._ _Oh twice as much ain't twice as good_ _._ _And can't sustain like one half could_ _._ _It's wanting more_ _, t_ _hat's gonna send me to my knees_ _._ _Oh gravity, stay the hell away from me_ _._ "—John Mayer

* * *

Fitz downed his drink in two big gulps and poured himself another.

"Don't you think you should lay off of the scotch?"

"Cyrus," Fitz eyed him, "I think that of all the times in my life, this moment right now is the perfect time for me to drink in a judgment free zone."

Fitz was standing behind his home bar on the first floor of his four story townhouse talking with his long time friend and business manager Cyrus Beene. Fitz had been drinking for the past two hours while trying to wrap his mind around seeing Olivia today, and her daughter.

"I'm not judging," Cyrus threw his hands up, "I'm just saying you need to calm down."

"Did you listen to anything that I said in the past hour?"

"Yes. You saw an old flame today and for no good reason you think that her teenage daughter might be yours," Cyrus said in an uninterested tone.

"If you saw her, you would know," Fitz said matter-of-factly.

"Did this woman-"

"Olivia," Fitz interrupted him.

"Did Olivia say that her daughter was yours?"

"No."

Cyrus stared at him as if he had grown a second head.

"Say what's on your mind, Cyrus."

"I just don't know what would make you assume that this child is yours if the mom didn't say it was yours. I didn't know that you were that hard pressed for a family."

Fitz resented Cyrus' thinking that he wanted a family so bad that he would somehow conjure up a child with an old flame. Fitz wasn't some old lonely dude who attached himself to people for the sake of having them around. With or without Olivia admitting it to him, when he saw Olivia and Layla in the same room together, he knew that Layla was his daughter. There was no denying it.

"Cyrus, in the summer of 1999, I met Olivia. It was her first night in town and Derek needed me to fill in for his guitarist who had gotten sick or something like that. Derek was friends with her cousin and they came to the show. I ended up seeing her again on the fourth of July and her kid brother and my dad's assistant's son were friends. We spent the whole summer together, hanging out with the kids sometimes and a few times with Derek and her cousin. And we spent a lot of time alone. It was the best couple of months of my life. But we were young and she had to come back to the east coast to start college and I was in school on the west coast and working with my dad part time so we never went any further or talked to each other pass that summer."

Cyrus looked at Fitz and sighed, "Okay. Start this story from the beginning."

* * *

 **July 28, 1999**

"Thanks for taking him with you today, Fitz."

"It's no problem."

Fitz watched as his father's assistant Shannon, checked her son's bag again to make sure that he had everything he might need for their trip to the zoo. After grabbing the bag from her and saying goodbye, Fitz and Shane was on their way. Fitz helped Shane into the car and they drove down the road to Olivia's place.  
"Do you like Olivia?" Shane asked.

Fitz looked at him briefly through the rearview mirror.

"She is my friend."

"Is she your girlfriend?"

"No."

"But she is a girl and she is your friend so that would make her your girlfriend," Shane reasoned in his four year old mind.

"Nicolas is a boy and your friend but you don't call him your boyfriend."

"Mommy says girlfriends and boyfriends are for grown people so when I'm as old as you, I will call Nicolas my boyfriend."

"Um…," Fitz started to tell him that wasn't how it worked but he didn't want to confuse the little boy anymore than he already had so he simply asked, "What do you call Nicolas now?"

"Nicolas or Nick."

"It works the same with Olivia and I. She is just Olivia."

"She is your Olivia," he corrected Fitz.

"Sure," Fitz nodded, silently reminding himself to never have kids.

When they got to Olivia's house, Shane was excited to ring the doorbell so that he could get to his friend.

Nicolas opened the door and yelled to his sister, "Olivia, come on. They are here."

"You're not supposed to just open the door. You're not grown. What if it was someone else? A bad person that you just let into the house," Olivia scolded.

"But I was looking out the window so I knew it was them," Nicolas said giving Olivia puppy dog eyes.

"Don't do the face."

"What face?" Nicolas asked innocently.

"Go get in the car."

Nicolas and Shane raced to the car.

"He is adorable," Fitz said.

"He is little charmer that I have to keep my eye on. If I'm not careful, he will most likely try to get away with murder while I'm watching."

Olivia shut and locked the door.

"Alright, it's zoo time!" she said excitedly.

* * *

Olivia, Fitz, and the boys were having an amazing time at the zoo. They saw the amphibians first. The guys loved that because they got to a pet some frogs and some other slimy things that Olivia wasn't sure what they were. After the amphibians, they went to see the reptiles. Both Nicolas and Shane got to hold snakes, which they thought was the coolest thing in the world.

Nicolas, Shane, and Fitz tried to get Olivia to touch a snake but she kindly declined and the boys joked about how Olivia was ' _such a girl_ ' for not wanting to touch the snakes. She let them have that one. They then visited a part of the zoo that had insects and spiders, followed by birds.

Olivia was a little more interested in the birds than the bugs, snakes, and lizards they had seen before. After the birds, they ended up in the Safari Park, which was Olivia was most excited to see. They went to the cheetah safari first and got to sit through a demonstration that showed how fast the cheetah could run.

"Wow," Shane and Nicolas said together as they watched the cheetah run along the little racing path created for the demonstration.

"It's like a car," Shane said not taking his off of the path. "Do you think it could beat a race car?" He asked Olivia.

"No but it would be pretty close."

He nodded and looked back at the cheetah who had finished running.

"It doesn't even look tired," Nicolas said.

"It's not. Running is what cheetah's are built to do," Fitz said.

"If someone practiced a lot could they run as fast as a cheetah?"

"No," Fitz shook his head.

"I would hate for it to chase me."

"You would die if it chased you because you would be dinner," Shane said.

After the cheetah safari, they went to the Jungle Ropes Safari. The kids wanted to climb the trees so they went through the training course and got strapped in to start their hour of climbing and hiking.

"You okay?" Fitz asked when he noticed Olivia staring off into the distance.

"I'm afraid of heights," she said lowly.

"You'll be fine," he touched her harness, "These are really tight."

"He said some of these courses are 35 feet from the ground," she whispered.

Before Fitz could say anything, Shane spoke up, "It's okay. I'll protect you."

She smiled down at him.

"See, you are in great hands," Fitz said before looked at Nicolas, "Are you ready?"

"Yeah."

"We are going to kill this course, right."

"Right," Nicolas high fived Fitz.

Fitz and Nick walked ahead to start the course.

"Okay. I'm counting on you to protect me," Olivia said to Shane.

"My mom is afraid of roller coasters and I protect her so I can protect you."

Shane grabbed her hand and led her in the direction of Fitz and Nicolas to start the jungle course.

* * *

 **August 6, 1999**

Fitz stared at Olivia as she at her funnel cake. She was the most beautiful woman he had ever met in his life. She smart, funny, and easy to talk to, and in nine days she would be gone from his life forever. The fact that in nine days she would be gone from his life forever saddened him. It wasn't fair that someone so perfect could enter his life for only a short season. Fitz wished he had met her sooner. She had been just across the lake for the last five summers and now, that she had to go off and start school on the other side of the country, he was getting a chance to meet her. Fitz felt as if God was playing a cruel joke on him. Sending him an angel that would fly away soon.

"Earth to Fitz," Olivia waved her hand in his face.

"What's up," he was now out of his head and focusing fully on her.

"What's on your mind?" Olivia fed him a piece of her funnel cake.

"Nothing."

"Spill it, Fitzgerald."

He smiled at her.

"I was just thinking, why didn't I meet you sooner?"

It was Olivia's turn to smile.

"Because the universe has a cruel sense of humor."

Olivia was trying not to think about her going home in less than two weeks. She felt like she didn't have enough time with Fitz. They had spent every day since the Fourth of July together and every day the did something new and exciting. She could not recall a time in her life that she enjoyed herself as much as she did when she was with Fitz.

In the month that they had spent together, they had done everything from just swimming at the lake that divided both of their homes to going out to clubs to hear live bands play. The hung out together with Olivia's little brother and his friend Shane. Olivia loved watching him with the kids. The way he would talk to them and make them feel like little men always brought a smile to her face.

Fitz was a rare breed, Olivia was sure of it, and that was made him special to her. She tried not to think of having to leave him because she wasn't prepared to.  
"We should do something really memorable tonight," Olivia said.

"What did you have in mind?"

* * *

An hour later, Olivia and Fitz sat in the waiting area of a tattoo parlor. They had decided to get matching tattoos. As they waited, they both drew sample designs so they could pick what they wanted to get tattooed.

"Are you going to show me your design?" Fitz asked.

"You go first."

Fitz flipped over his sheet of paper.

"It is a heart made out of music notes because the first time we met, music is what brought us together."

"Wow," Olivia looked at the design, "Now I don't want to show mine."

"Go ahead."

"My design is simpler and a little sad. You picked hello and I picked goodbye," she turned over her paper to reveal an infinity symbol made out of an arrow that didn't connect, "Infinity is having no limits or end. Whatever this is between us infinite. It has no limits or end but the arrow not connecting is where we are. It is us going in different directions."

"That is perfect, Livvie. Beautiful, even."

She smiled at him.

"Are you sure you? Once it is there, there is no going back."

"I love it."

That sat in silence as they waited for their turn to get their tattoos.

* * *

"Are you sure your dad isn't home?"

"Yeah," Fitz nodded, "He has an early morning meeting in LA so he decided to stay the night in the city instead of getting up early and driving there."

After giving Olivia a tour of his home, they settled in his room with a Stevie Wonder album.

She laid in his bed in just a t-shirt, watching him as he listened to the music. She wondered if he knew that his fingers moved as if he was playing.

"You're going to be a really great musician one day."

Fitz opened his eyes and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry. I just really love this album."

"No, don't apologize," Olivia sat up, "It is really amazing to watch you do your thing."

He smiled and nodded.

"I don't want to be a musician."

"What do you want to be?"

"I don't know. I just…I love music too much to be a musician. I know that is crazy to say but you hear all the time about people who go into the music business because they love music, only to have to sell records. Sometimes the music that you want to make is not always the music that sells and then the musician is just stuck."

She nodded her understanding.

"There are plenty of jobs that you can do in the music business without being a musician."

"Yeah, I know but-"

"No 'buts'. You're amazing and people deserve to hear your music. And you know what, I'm positive that one day the world will hear and love your music," she straddled him just as 'As' started playing. She started singing along with the song, " _As around the sun the earth knows she's revolving_ _._ _And the rosebuds know to bloom in early May_ _._ _Just as hate knows love's the cure_ _._ _You can rest your mind assure_ _._ _That I'll be loving you always._ "

Fitz sang the second part of the first verse, " _As now can't reveal the mystery of tomorrow_ _._ _But in passing will grow older every day_ _._ _Just as all is born is new_ _._ _Do know what I say is true_ _._ _That I'll be loving you always_ _._ "

And then together they sung, " _Until the rainbow burns the stars out in the sky—ALWAYS._ _Until the ocean covers every mountain high—ALWAYS_ _._ _Until the dolphin flies and parrots live at sea—ALWAYS._ _Until we dream of life and life becomes a dream_ _._ "

They took turns singing the whole song.

"Oh, God. I sound awful."

"You sound fine."

"You would say that because you like me."

"Do I?"

Instead of responding, Olivia pulled her shirt over her head and tossed it to the floor. Fitz mouth fell open slightly as he stared at her.

"I think this means that you do like me."

"That's not fair," Fitz looked from her breast to her face and then back. Fitz stared at her, trying to commit everything about this moment to memory. Olivia grabbed Fitz face, making him look at her and then she kissed him. When she pulled away, she licked her lips. He pecked her lips and then he placed a series of kisses on her face; her cheeks, nose, and forehead.

He pulled away looking at her again, "You are beautiful."

She blushed.

"You're not too bad yourself."

Fitz smiled and gave her an Eskimo kiss. He kissed her, this time slipping his tongue into her mouth. Their kiss deepened as Fitz hands caressed her body. He unclasped her bra and tossed it on the floor with her shirt. Flipping them over so that Olivia was now on her back, Fitz went to work, kissing, licking, and sucking on her breast. From her breast, he licked down her stomach, slowly spreading her legs, Fitz slipped his fingers into Olivia. Her hitched and she relaxed her body. Fitz teeth grazed up her stomach as his fingers moved inside of her slowly. Once at eye level with her again, he kissed her.

"Is this okay?" He asked. She nodded. "I need to hear you."

"Yes," she nodded again.

She kissed him, her hands going to his shorts. She was taking his lead. Olivia pulled down his shorts partially until his penis was free. She grabbed it and felt a little overwhelmed by his length. Before she had a chance to overthink it, Fitz thumb lightly grazed her clit causing her to moan.

"Fitz," she moaned out.

She stroked him and he kissed her, slowly pulling his fingers out of her. Fitz grabbed his penis, rubbing it along her lower lips and against her clit.

"Put it in," she whispered.

Fitz looked into her eyes and slowly entered her. Olivia winced and shut her eyes. He kissed her eyelids.

"Look at me," he whispered.

She opened her eyes slowly, looking up at him.

"Hi," he stared down at her.

"Hi," smiled at him.

"Do you want to stop?"

"No."

"You sure?"

Olivia kissed him and pulled him in closer. Her hands traveled up his back as he continued to enter her.

"Ahhh," Olivia released a low scream as her nails dug into his back, "Keep going," she said softly.

Fitz did as she said. He paused allowing her body to adjust to him. He moved slow helping her to get use to him being inside of her. Only when she asked for more did he pick up the pace of his thrust. Never in his life had Fitz experienced sex like this. It was different. The way she held him, kissed him, looked at him, the way she felt wrapped around him. He knew then that this wasn't just sex, they were making love.

* * *

The day had finally come for Olivia to leave. It had been something that Fitz had been dreading since the second day he spent with her. It was as if he blinked and the summer was over. Fitz felt a pain in his chest that he hadn't felt since the day he found out that his mother died. He didn't know how in such a short time, he had fallen in love with Olivia but he had. Fitz tried not to think about the love that he felt for Olivia because he knew it could not go anywhere with her leaving today.

Olivia's flight was leaving in four hours. After packing and having lunch with her family, she was headed to Fitz house to say goodbye before she left. For the first time since her mother moved here, she had reservations about returning home but Olivia wasn't stupid, she had to leave and start school. She couldn't throw away her life back home because she was starting to have feeling for a man who she had only just met less than two months ago.

"I have something for you," Fitz walked over to his closet and pulled out a small brown box.

He sat back down on the bed and opened the box. He moved a bunch of pictures out of the way and grabbed a smaller box that either had earrings or a ring in it and handed it to her.

"What is this?" Olivia asked nervously.

"Open it and see."

Olivia looked at him and then back down at the box, "You didn't have to get me anything."

"I know but I wanted to."

Olivia opened the box, looking down at the gold ring inside and then back at Fitz's face.

"It belonged to my mother and before that, my grandmother and before that, my great-grandmother."

"I can't take this ring, Fitz."

"Yes you can, and you will take this ring," Fitz insisted.

"It belonged to your mother," Olivia stated, trying to get him to see why she could not take the ring from him.

"My great-grandmother got the ring from her dad for her birthday right before he passed away. It was the last thing that he ever gave to her. She later gave it to my granddad and told him to give it to a special woman in his life. He gave it to my grandmother who later gave it to my dad. My dad gave it to my mom for their fifth wedding anniversary and she wore it every day until the day she died. He then gave it to me and told me to give it to a special woman in my life so I am giving it to you."

"You're going to meet a tone of women in your life."

"And none of them will be you."

Olivia could see the sincerity in his eyes and she smiled at him, taking the ring out of the box and putting it on. She looked down at her hand and then back at Fitz, "I'll cherish this forever."

* * *

 **Present Day**

Olivia played with the ring on her necklace as she watched her daughter warm up. Today was the final day and audition to see if she was going to getting into the music program at the performing arts school. After a two day workshop, it all boiled down to this audition. Olivia saw how excited Layla was and she wanted this for her child.

"Are you nervous?" Layla asked her mother.

"No. Why?"

"You're messing with the ring on your necklace. You do that when you're nervous-"

"Or in deep thought."

Layla and Olivia both turned around at the familiar male voice.

"Uncle Nick! What are you doing here," Layla practically jumped in his arms.

"Well I heard that my little peanut was performing so couldn't miss that," he squeezed her tightly, "What up, sis?"

"Hey Nicky," Olivia hugged and kissed her baby brother.

"Woman, I don't know how many times I have to tell you I'm a grown man. Stop calling me Nicky."

"You will always be my little Nicky," Olivia pinched his cheeks.

"You play entirely too much," Nick looked at Layla, "Are you ready to knock these little bubblegum pop singers out of the water?"

Layla nodded.

Olivia smacked his arm, "Stop that."

"What? I'm willing to bet my last one hundred dollars that my niece is better than anyone in the room."

"That maybe the case but this is a school contest-"

"Keyword, contest. They all enemies until this thing is over."

"I hate you so much," Olivia shook her head.

Layla laughed.

"Come on peanut, I want you to give me a sample," Nick pulling her down the hall, away from all of the other students waiting to go in.

Olivia took a seat and pulled out her phone to check and see if she had any calls or emails. She took the afternoon off to be with Layla but she still wanted to check on things back at work while she had a free moment.

After responding to two emails, Olivia put her phone away and when she looked up, she met Fitz eyes. He was leaning on the wall directly across from her, staring at her. When he looked at her he smile and waved, she did the same. Needing to break their staring contest, Olivia looked down the hall at her daughter and brother. When she turned around, he had taken the seat next to her.

"Your daughter is really talented," Fitz said.

"Yeah she is," was all Olivia said, refusing to add ' _just like her father_ ' at the end of her comment.

"It is really a small world, with her coming into my office to audition."

She looked up at him. She could see the question in his eyes. Olivia decided to be a big girl and do what had to be done. She had to tell her truth.

"We should probably talk and catch up. Are you free for coffee tomorrow at 10am?"

"Yeah," Fitz nodded.

The sat back, both of their attention went to Layla and Nicolas as they walked towards them.


	4. Daughters

**Daughters**

" _On behalf of every man_ _looking out for every girl,_ _you are the God and the weight of her world._ _So fathers, be good to your daughters._ _Daughters will love like you do._ _Girls become lovers who turn into mothers._ _So mothers, be good to your daughters too_ _._ "—John Mayer

* * *

Olivia wanted Fitz to go away. She didn't want him around right now. It was bad enough holding this secret in but it didn't become easier in his presence. How could she look her daughter in the face right before her audition, knowing that she was lying to her?

Before she had a chance to think further, her daughter and brother were standing in front of them.

"Hey, man," Nick greeted Fitz with frat boy handshake. "What are you doing here?"

"He is one of the judges," Layla cut in, "Hey Mr. Grant."

"Hey," Fitz smiled at Layla. "Actually, I'm not judging. I just stopped by to wish you good luck."

"Wow, thank you," Layla smiled really big despite trying to hide it. It meant a lot to her that Fitz thought of her enough to wish her good luck. He was a phenomenal musician and if he thought she was good enough to make it, then she knew she had a chance.

"So you've heard her sing?" Nick asked.

"I have," Fitz nodded, "She sang for me in order to get the chance to audition here."

"He is running the music program that I'm trying to join," Layla told Nick.

Olivia sat quiet watching them interact with each other. She felt like if she spoke, everyone would know. This had to be the most awkward situation in her life. Olivia saw them talking but had mentally zoned out. It wasn't until Layla's name was called that Olivia was able to snap out of her trance.

Olivia stood and gave Layla a quick pep talk before Layla went into the room for her audition. After Layla went in, Fitz excused himself and left Olivia and Nicolas standing there.

"Do you have something you want to get off your chest?" Nicolas asked after watching Fitz turn the corner.

"Nope," Olivia said quickly.

Nick stared at his sister for a long while until Olivia became uncomfortable under his gaze.

"What?" Her tone was snappy.

Nick thought of the right words to say to his sister. He could tell that she was clearly on edge and he had a feeling why. Nick had been too young to put two and two together years ago when his niece was born but watching his sister and seeing Fitz and Layla together, everything made sense now. He just needed her to confirm his feeling.

"I know that I'm your younger brother and you have that whole nurturing mother thing going on with me because of our age difference but I want you to know that you can come to me and talk," Nick said, "About anything. Judgment free, I'm here for you. Let me be your big little brother."

Olivia's eyes softened and she smiled at him. She took a seat and Nick sat down beside her. They were quiet for a long while. He figured she would tell him whenever she was ready and he was just satisfied with his sister knowing that he was here for her.

"I don't want to talk about it now, not here," Olivia spoke softly, "But I made a huge mistake and I don't know if I can fix it."

"You fix things for a living, Liv. I'm sure everything will be okay."

"I'm not sure I can fix this."

* * *

 **November 1999**

Olivia lay down on the bathroom floor, hoping that the cool tile would help her overheated body. For the third time in the last hour, the contents of her stomach had decided to make an appearance. Olivia was sure that this last time, she had completely emptied her stomach.

As she lay there on the cold floor, clinging to the toilet, Olivia felt the familiar burn of the unshed tears that threatened to spill over. She couldn't believe that this was her life. How had she allowed herself to be so reckless? She didn't make stupid mistakes like having unprotected sex with someone who she barely knew. She wasn't that girl who became pregnant at eighteen.

 _This couldn't be her life_ , she thought but the two pink lines on a stick told her otherwise. The two lines taunted her, a sign of her stupidity. She was pregnant. A summer fling with a boy from the other side of the country had resulted in her being pregnant. They had only had sex twice. _It only takes once_ , her mind her scolded her because she knew that.

Olivia looked at the stick in her hand again, hoping against all hope that somehow two lines would not be looking back at her. But they were and just looking at the results of her pregnancy test made a new wave of nausea hit her. She attempted to sit up but her body felt weak, both physically and mentally. Olivia couldn't move. She felt paralyzed and helpless as loud sobs began to escape her.

* * *

 **March 2000**

Olivia had done a pretty good job of hiding her pregnancy. She was seven months and still going to class and working hard. Olivia wanted to finish the semester off strong because she knew that she would have take a semester off.

Only one person, Abby, her roommate, knew that she was pregnant. That was until she came back to her dorm room and found her father waiting for her. When Eli Pope took in the sight of his daughter, there was no hiding his initial shock that quickly turned to anger.

"How could you be so stupid?"

"Daddy I-"

"I raised you better than this," Eli cut his daughter off, "Who is the father?"

"I..I…," Olivia stuttered. She had never seen her father like this.

"WHO IS THE FATHER?" He asked through clenched teeth.

"I don't know," she lied.

"You don't know," he look at her as if she had been speaking another language. "You don't know?" He asked in disbelief, "So I raised a whore who just spreads her legs for random men? You disappoint me, Olivia. I know that I raised you better than that but for some reason you want to run around like a common ho."

Olivia was stunned to silence. Never had she seen her father this angry before. Eli Pope had not so much raised his voice at his daughter, let alone speak to her in the way that he was now.

"Do you know how hard your life is going to be? How are you going to support a child and go to school?"

"I'll figure it out," Olivia said meekly.

"You'll figure it out," Eli laughed, "You're stupider than I thought. What have I always told you?" Olivia was silent. "WHAT DID I TELL YOU, OLIVIA?" He yelled.

"That I have to be twice as good-"

"As a black woman in this world, you will always be the most hated and disrespected person in the room. You have to work twice as hard to prove that even deserve to be in the room. Anything less than excellence is failure. You have failed. With the deck already stacked against, you have decided to suddenly live your life out like a stereotype? Being a pregnant teenager and not knowing who the father of your child is. I expected so much better for you."

"I'm sorry," Olivia had tears in her eyes but she didn't let the fall out of fear that her tears would only anger her father more.

"Pack your things. You're coming home."

There was no room for discussion. Olivia was going home.

* * *

 **May 2000**

Olivia had never felt so alone in her life, not even when she found out she was pregnant in her dorm room bathroom. She was in labor, or at least she thought that she was. She had been awaken two hours ago by a sharp pain. She had not been able to get back to sleep and as she laid in bed, the pain got worse. She got up and attempted to move around but the pain just got worse.

Olivia didn't know what to do. Her father hadn't talked to her since he found out that she was pregnant. They lived under the same roof but he hadn't said so much as ' _good morning_ ' to her in two months. She felt so alone but Olivia knew that she had to go to her father because she was about to have her baby.

Olivia walked to her father's bedroom and knocked on the door.

"Dad," she banged on the door as another pain hit her. "Daddy," she screamed.

In between her knocks, she heard movement on the other side of the door but she kept banging. The door swung open.

"What Olivia?" Eli rubbed his hands over his face.

"I think I'm about to have the baby."

Eli stared at his daughter, the pained look on her face, her eyes, she reminded him of his little girl. For the first time in months, he saw his little girl and she was calling out from him to help her. Eli wasted no time going into protective daddy mode. He had to get his daughter to the hospital, he was about to be a grandfather.

 **17 Hours Later**

Eli Pope looked at his granddaughter, Layla Grace Pope. She was the most precious baby he had ever seen.

"You can hold her if you want to," Olivia said softly.

Eli turned to her and gave her a small smile.

"She is gorgeous," Eli walked towards his daughter. "How are you?"

"I feel like I've been hit by a truck but oddly enough I'm completely fine with that."

"You have a glow. It is the same one your mother had after she had you."

Olivia smiled at him.

"It is really nice to hear your voice."

Eli looked down and then looked back at his daughter.

"Olivia, I'm so sorry, for the way that I spoke to you and for hurting you. But I'm not sorry for the way that I felt. No one wants their child to become a teenage parent. I expected so much more from you, Olivia."

"I can't take her back, dad."

"I don't want you to," he looked over at the baby and then back at Olivia, "I can't say that this is easy for me but you know that I will be here for you and her no matter what."

Olivia nodded.

"I'm taking a semester off of school but I'm going to go back in January and finish. It will be hard but it's not impossible."

"If anyone can do it, I know you can Olivia."

Eli walked over and picked Layla up.

"I didn't call your mother."

"I never told her I was pregnant." Eli looked at her but didn't say anything. "I'm going to tell her. I mean it's not like I can hide her now."

* * *

 **Present Day**

As planned Olivia and Fitz sat down at a local coffee shop the next morning. Olivia was nervous and working on only two hours of sleep but you would never be able to tell. She was stone faced and treating this like a business meeting. Olivia had trained herself to hide all nerves and emotions when dealing with business matters. Acting as if this was a business meeting was going to be the only way that Olivia could get through this sit down with Fitz.

Olivia took a sip of her tea and wished it had been something stronger. She had to get down to what she came here for because time was not going to make telling him any easier.

"I would ask how life has been treating you but I know you're doing well," Olivia broke the silence between them.

"I hear you're not doing too bad yourself. You own a consultant firm, managing crises and fixing the public images and reputations of DC's elite. Anyone in the DMV area with a problem comes to you. With all the secrets you know, you practically run the east coast."

Olivia chuckled and took a sip of her tea.

"I see you googled me."

"I did and I'm impressed."

"You can't believe everything you read on the internet."

"I know."

Fitz took a sip of his coffee and stared at her. Neither of them knew how to start the conversation that they really came here to have and small talk about their careers couldn't last forever. Fitz was a in the public eye and his life was an open book that he was sure Olivia was aware of. Olivia on the other hand was very modest. He wasn't going to get much from her. So for now they both sat in silence fiddling with their drinks in some form or another.

"So what makes a big time producer take time off and run a music program at local high school?" Olivia was prolonging their talk.

"I love music. The good, raw music, that is made without the pressures of record labels who only want hits and push all artists to sound the same."

She smiled at him, "You haven't changed a bit."

"Not on my love of music I haven't."

The way his eyes lit up when he talked about music always made her smile. Olivia felt like she was back on the west coast at the lake with Fitz. She took a sip of tea and closed her eyes as a memory hit her.

* * *

 **Summer 1999**

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Newsflash Livvie, I'm already grown up."

"You know what I mean," Olivia playfully hit him, "What do you want to do with your life?"

Fitz thought for a long moment and then finally shrugged.

"I don't know," he looked down, "I guess I'll eventually take over for my dad when he retires."

"You're going to be an architect?"

"I guess," Fitz shrugged.

"Don't sound so enthused," Olivia said sarcastically.

"I never been good at anything except music and I didn't discover that until late in my adolescence. I never had anything that I just knew that I wanted to do."

"That's sad."

"Not really."

"What are you taking up in school?"

"Business."

"What do you plan on doing with that when you finish?"

"I don't know dad," Fitz threw up his hands and shrugged.

"I'm sorry. I was just making conversation."

"It's fine. I just have no clue what I want to do with my life. I don't necessarily feel pulled to anything."

"What about music?"

"I hate performing."

"I get that but you are too talented not to pursue your music career."

"I may not know what I want to do but I never considered music as something I could do as an actual career."

"Why not?"

"Everyone wants to be rich and famous. I'm not trying to be another face in the crowd."

"Trust me Fitzgerald Grant, you will not be another face in the crowd."

"You are very flattering, Olivia Pope."

She smiled at him.

"I loved reading when I was younger and that turned into a love of writing. I loved creating my own little fictional world. I swore that I was going to be a book editor when I got older."

"Really? You wanted to read for a living."

"I wanted to read for a living," Olivia laughed, "It really is a cool job."

"It sounds like it," he nodded like he didn't believe her.

Olivia rolled her eyes.

"My point is there are ways to turn the things you love and are passionate about into something you can do for the rest of your life. You just have to work it out."

"Do you still want to be a book editor?"

"No, actually. After my parents divorced, I really got interested in figuring out a way to help people through messy situations in their lives so I'm studying communications for undergrad and then law school."

"You want to be a lawyer?" Fitz asked.

Olivia nodded.

"I can't picture you being a lawyer."

"Why not?"

"You want to help people. Most people don't go into law because they want to help people."

"I want to help people but there is something really sexy and empowering about being a lawyer to me."

"Oh, really?" Fitz eyed her suspiciously.

"Yes," Olivia laughed. "It is almost like a big game of chess. You have to be intelligent and strategic to do your job thoroughly and that is very sexy to me."

Fitz nodded. He could see her point. There was something alluring about high-powered jobs.

"Promise me something," Olivia broke him from his thoughts.

"What?"

"That you will never settle. Your mother gave you music and God gave you a gift. You have to share your gift with the world."

"You're so serious about this."

"I am. I believe in you, even if you don't believe in you yet."

Fitz stared at her for a long moment.

"I promise that I will never settle."

* * *

 **Present Day**

Olivia sat her tea down and looked up at Fitz.

"I don't really know where to start," she said honestly, dropping her facade of composure.

"The beginning is nice."

"It is a small world. What are the chances of my daughter walking into your office?" Olivia was stalling and she and Fitz both knew it. Fitz sat silently, staring at her. He wasn't going to say a word until she voiced what they both already knew.

"There is no easy way to say this so I'm just going to say it," Olivia started before pausing to take a sip of tea. Her throat was dry and she felt like she was going to choke on her words. In this moment she felt like she was that same eighteen year old girl who was pregnant and scared fifteen years ago.

"Layla is your daughter," Olivia said in a low voice.

"Speak up," Fitz had heard her but he wanted to be clear.

"Layla is your daughter," Olivia spoke up.

Fitz stared at her. He knew the moment that he laid eyes on Olivia and Layla in the same room that she was his but hearing the words, hearing that he had a daughter changed things. So many questions and emotions went through his mind at once. He was angry for Olivia not telling him sooner then he tried to put himself in her shoes and wondered about her being a single mother for years and guilt washed over him. Why didn't he try to reach out to her? He thought about Olivia so many times after their summer together but for some reason he had always talked himself out of trying to contact her. It took him years to get over Olivia, she was in his eyes, the one that got away. Knowing that he had a family across the country, Fitz emotions were all over the place. What had their life been like in his absence?

Olivia was a pretty good at reading people, she had to be in her line of work but sitting across from Fitz, she had no clue what he was thinking and that made her feel sick to her stomach. The way that he sat across from her staring blankly made her nervous. This was one of the reasons she never wanted to tell him about Layla. More than her father's disappointment in her or being a single mother, Olivia feared what Fitz's reaction would be. She had feelings for Fitz back then but she knew that they couldn't be together. Olivia had feared rejection and she allowed that to stop her from reaching out to Fitz.

"I thought that you should know since you were going to be working with her," Olivia said nervously. When Fitz didn't speak, Olivia exhaled and sat up straight going back into business mode before continuing, "I haven't told her about you. I wanted to tell you first so that you could decide what you wanted to do."

"What does that mean?"

"I have been taking care of my daughter-"

"You chose to do that," Fitz said angrily.

Olivia was taken aback by his anger. She knew that she deserved it but she had never seen him raise his voice.

"I know that I chose to raise my-"

"Our," he corrected her.

"I chose to raise Layla by myself and because I made that choice, you have a choice to decide if you want to be in her life or not."

"Are you serious right now?"

"I don't want you to feel like you have to do anything because you know about her. I can take care of her and I have been so if you don't to be a part of her life-"

"You have lost your mind," Fitz cut her off, "What happened to you?"

"I'm just being realistic."

"You realistically think that I can know that I have a daughter out here in this world and not acknowledge her?"

"I don't know-"

"That's bullshit, Olivia."

"We knew each other for two months fifteen years ago. People change."

"I know because I am looking at someone who changed."

"Don't do that."

"Don't do what?" Fitz snapped.

When Olivia said nothing, Fitz changed his tone, "We were kids back then. I did dumb shit in my past and because I know you, I know that whatever reason you came up with to keep this from me, you thought it was for the best." He sighed, "I'm trying not to be mad at you, Liv. But if you honestly think that I can act like I don't know that she is my daughter, you are highly mistaken."

"I didn't mean it like that," Olivia said, "I just…I didn't want you to be overwhelmed or think that I wanted something from you. I wanted you to be able to make the choice of how you wanted to move forward. If you wanted to wait or you wanted me to tell her immediately. I wanted you to have time to deal with this."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was in denial myself for a long time. I hid my pregnancy from everyone and then when I had her, I felt like too much time had passed and I was scared of what your reaction was going to be."

Fitz thought back to that summer when he first met Olivia. He wondered what she had thought of him back then. If she had truly knew him, she would have known that he would have wanted to be a father to their daughter. He would never had wanted to miss out on any moments of Layla's life.

Fitz tried to rationalize what would make Olivia doubt him enough to keep a secret from him for years. Right now he couldn't think of one thing that would make Olivia think he didn't want to be a part of their child's life. Instead of letting his confusion anger him, Fitz decided to be civil. They couldn't get the past back so the best thing was for him to remain levelheaded so that they could possibly work towards a better future.

"The moment I saw you two together I knew," he stated calmly, "There is no amount of time that can prepare me for finding out that I have a teenage daughter that I never knew about. I don't want to wait any longer."

Olivia nodded, "I'll tell her."

* * *

Olivia was having an awful day. Her early morning meeting and confession session with Fitz left her feeling exhausted. For the most part he was very calm and understanding and for that, Olivia was grateful. She felt a sense of relief knowing that Fitz was still the kind, open hearted guy she had met that long summer ago.  
Somewhere in the back of her mind, Olivia had feared that the two months they had shared together would be long forgotten. She thought that she would be out of sight, out of mind and her need to hold on to the memory of their summer and her fantasy of him had helped her keep this secret for years. She knew it was selfish but at a time when Olivia felt so alone—she had hidden her pregnancy for several months before her father found out and refused to talk to her—the fantasy of Fitz being the perfect man was all she had. She kept herself sane with thoughts of him and how amazing a father he would be. By the time she had worked up the courage to reach out to him, Layla was four years old, she was in her first year of law school, and Fitz had begun his career in the music business. He started out working in the A&R department at record label and then eventually moved on to writing and producing. Before Olivia knew it, Fitz had blew up and any thoughts of reaching out to him had completely disappeared from her mind.

Never did she expect to have her daughter be the one to bring Fitz back into her life. She knew that she couldn't have them be around each other without telling them but nothing could prepare Olivia for the conversation she was about to have with her daughter.

"We have to have a very important discussion," Olivia started as she stared at her daughter from across their dining room table.

Layla looked up at her and Olivia froze. She knew this day would come even though she hoped it never would. Olivia had to get herself together. She took a deep breath before just jumping right in.

"Do you remember when you were seven and you asked me about your father?"

Layla nodded but didn't say anything. Flashes of her earlier conversation with Fitz began to flood Olivia's mind. Layla was so much like him and she didn't even know it. Her mannerisms, they way she was looking at Olivia in this moment were mirroring the way Fitz had looked at Olivia earlier.

"Do you remember what I told you about him?"

"I came to you crying and wanting to quit dance class because I didn't have a dad to go to the daddy-daughter ball with," Layla said.

The memory burned in Olivia's heart. She remembered her daughter coming home and not wanting to talk to her. She cried her eyes out because she didn't have a dad. When a seven year old Layla asked her mother, " _Why didn't my daddy love me enough to stay and be my daddy?_ " Olivia's heart broke. She knew nothing would ever hurt as much as her daughter feeling like she wasn't loved and wanted.

"You told me that my dad didn't know about me that's why he wasn't around," Layla spoke breaking Olivia from her thoughts, "You said that he gave me my name and music," she continued.

"I also said that when you were old enough that we would talk about what happened."

"So now I'm old enough to have the ' _dad_ ' talk?" Olivia nodded.

"What if I don't want to talk about it?"

"Layla," Olivia sighed.

"I'm not saying that I'm not mature enough to have the conversation. This just feels random. Did something change? Why do you want to talk about this now?"

"I saw your father recently," Olivia said simply.

Layla looked at her mother square on. She could feel that there was more but she didn't quite know how to respond. She had spent her entire life without a father. When she was younger not having a father upset her but now, she figured you couldn't miss what you never had, so rarely even thought about whoever her dad was.

"The summer before I started college I went to visit my mom for the summer like I did every year since my parents divorced. The first night there Rochelle dragged me out with her to see her friend's band perform. Your father was filling in for someone who had gotten sick-"

"So you and aunt Shelly were like a band groupies?" Layla laughed.

Olivia smiled at her.

"I ran into him again a few days later at this fourth of July barbecue and we ended up spending the whole summer together. We went everywhere and did everything in together. A week before I left we slept together twice. I came home and started school and went on with my life until I found out that I was pregnant with you. We never exchanged phone numbers and I never tried to reach out to him because I scared. I didn't know what he was going to say. I didn't know what people would say or think about me so I hid my pregnancy for seven months. By the time I had you, I felt like too much time had passed and I was too focused on being a mom and rebuilding my relationship with my dad that the last thing on my mind was trying to contact your father."

Layla took in her mother's words for a moment.

"Why are you telling me this? I know that you saw him but I don't understand. He doesn't know about me so why are you saying something now? DC is a big place. If he is in the city there is a chance that I would never see him. I don't know him so if I did see him neither of us would know. Why now?"

"I'm saying something now because you are going to be around your father a lot and," Olivia paused, almost losing her nerve looking at the expression on her daughter's face. After a few moments, Olivia knew she just had to spit it out, "Fitz is your father."

"What?"

"Fitzgerald Grant is your father."

"You're joking, right?"

"No, I'm not-"

"What the hell, mom?" Layla jumped out of her seat.

"Layla," Olivia started calmly but was cut off.

"I'm sorry," Layla said quickly, "But how could you keep this from me?"

"Layla, I was young and scared-"

" **NO** ," Layla yelled, "You don't get to hide behind your fear. I get it. You were young when you had me but you weren't too young and scared to spread your legs-"

"Layla Grace Pope, I understand that this shock to you but you will watch your tone of voice and chose your words wisely when you are talking to me," Olivia scolded her daughter.

"You are a liar and a coward, mom," Layla stated calmly as tears began to fall down her face, "When I was younger I thought something was wrong with me because my dad didn't love me enough to be in my life. I thought that I wasn't good enough or that I had done something wrong and made him leave. Then you told me that he didn't know about me and I felt a little better because then it wasn't my fault that he wasn't here. It gave me something to dream about. I had this image of him in my head and it helped me get through. You made me believe that my dad was someone who you had no way of finding or contacting. You could have reached out to him when I was crying to you as a child but you didn't."

"Layla," Olivia moved towards her but Layla stepped back.

"You're selfish, mom. You made the choice to keep me a secret from my dad. When I came to you crying, you weren't some scared eighteen year old. You could have stopped my pain when I came to you but you didn't. You made a choice for you without caring how it affects the people around you. And now that I know he is my father, what am I supposed to do? I can't work with him now. It is too weird. So thank you. Thanks for dropping this on me and taking the one thing I was really excited. Thank you for ruining my life again."

Layla left the room leaving her mother standing there speechless.


	5. Almost

**Almost**

" _I missed the times that we almost shared. I miss the love that was almost there. I miss the times that we use to kiss. At least in my dreams, just let me take my time and reminisce. I miss the times that we never had. What happened to us we were almost there? Whoever said it's impossible to miss when you never had, never almost had you._ "—Tamia

* * *

"I fucked up," Olivia sobbed into the phone.

"Olivia, calm down. What's wrong?"

"Layla hates me."

"What happened?"

Olivia took a deep breath and closed her eyes trying to calm herself before she went on.

"She met her father recently and neither one of them knew about each other. When I told her that he was her father, she got mad at me for keeping him from her all this time," she spoke in a eerily calm voice.

There was a silence on the other end of the phone.

"Edison, say something," Olivia said in a low voice.

"Liv, I…I don't know what to say."

"You always know what to say."

"I can talk to her," he offered.

"Are you busy right now?"

"You want me to come over now?"

"No," she said quickly, "If you're not busy, I was going to come over."

"I'm not busy."

"I'll be there in twenty minutes."

* * *

Fitz looked down at his food that he had barely touched. He had a lot on his mind and was not really hungry but he was pretending he was since his father had taken the time to cook. Fitz had showed up back home because he just wanted to be near his father after finding out that he was a father a couple days earlier.

"Something wrong with the food," Jerry's voice interrupted his thoughts.

"No. Everything is fine," Fitz lied, picking up a forkful of food and putting it in his mouth.

"What's on your mind, son?"

"Everything," Fitz sighed, "I have to tell you something really serious and I swear to God, I'm not joking."

Jerry grew concerned but said nothing, waiting for his son to go on.

"You know I'm doing music program at the performing arts school?" Jerry nodded and Fitz continued, "About a month ago, this girl walked into my office with her friend wanting an audition. She didn't get a chance to audition because she doesn't go to the school and it wasn't open to the general public. So she sings and she blows me away. I go back to DC a few days later to speak with the people at the school about allowing her to at least audition for a spot in the program. As I'm leaving I see her friend and she takes me to where she is which was a few blocks away. I tell her that she gets to audition with the school and she introduces me to her mother but I already know her mother."

"Oh. Okay," he eyed Fitz, knowing there had to be more.

"I took one look at this girl and her mother and it was like my world sank. I knew the moment that I saw her," Fitz mind drifted off.

"You knew what?" Jerry asked.

"I have a daughter."

"What," clearly he didn't hear his son correctly.

"I have fifteen year old daughter and her name is Layla Grace Pope. I just found out because her mother told me two days ago."

"You're not fucking with me?"

"Nope," Fitz shook his head, "I would not joke about something like this."

"Who is the mother? How do you know she is not lying?"

"I know because I saw Layla. She is the perfect mix of both of us. Besides her mother is successful and has never once tried to contact me. I honestly believe that if fate had not brought her to me for that audition, I never would have known."

"Who is the mother?"

"Do you remember the girl I gave grandma's ring to?"

"The girl whose family lived on the other side of the lake?"

"Yeah," Fitz nodded, "She found out she was pregnant a few months into her freshman year of college. She was scared so she hid her pregnancy and lied."

Jerry stared at Fitz for a long moment. He didn't believe him.

"Do you have a picture of her?" Jerry asked, attempting to catch his son off guard if he was lying.

Not missing a beat, Fitz pulled his phone from his pocket and slid his fingers across the screen for a few moments before handing his phone to his father.

Jerry looked at the phone. He didn't have to say anything, Fitz could tell by his facial expressions, that his father saw exactly what he saw the first time that he laid eyes on Layla.

"I've been stalking her facebook page for the last two days," Fitz said breaking the silence in the room.

"Does she know about you?"

"Olivia is supposed to be telling her."

"I have a granddaughter," Jerry stated still in shock. He was trying to wrap his mind around what he had just been told.

"Yeah. I have a daughter."

"There is so much that I don't understand."

"I don't," Fitz started but stopped, "I don't think I'm ready to be a dad but I have a daughter so I have to be but I don't know what to do. I feel like I should be doing more but what? What do I do?"

Jerry was silent for a long moment as he looked at his son.

"There is no advice I can give about being a father except to just be there. Reach out to her. Talk to her, get to know her, what she likes and what she doesn't like. Just be there," he paused to take a breath, "When your mom died, I didn't know what I was going to do. I felt like I didn't know you at all. I was scared and I wondered how I was going to be able to be a father because I realized that I was not qualified to even be your dad. Nothing is scarier than being a parent an older child and feeling so out of touch with that child. But you have to find a way to push through. You said she sings, right?" Fitz nodded. "That's something. If nothing else works you can connect with her through music."

"You make it sound so easy."

"It's not. It is work but it will all work out in the end."

"I hope so. It doesn't feel like right now though. I feel like I should be doing something."

"You just found out a couple of days ago."

"I know but-"

"It is not a race, Fitzgerald. There is no need to rush this because nothing you can do is going to make up for the time that you weren't in her life."

Fitz knew that his father was right but that did nothing stop his feelings. He still as if he should be doing more than what he was doing. He was anxious to talk to her and see where her head was at.

"Whenever you get around to talking to her, I would like to meet her."

Fitz nodded and forked around the food on his plate. His mind was still heavy with worry but he was going to try to remember that this wasn't a race and that everything would fall into place when it was supposed to.

* * *

Layla had shut everyone out. She hadn't left her room when her mother was home in the last five days. She just couldn't look at her mother. Layla knew that she was wrong for the way she spoke to her mother when she found out Fitz was her father but she was angry. Never in her life had she been so angry and she could not seem to control it. Just the thought of her mother made her angry. She wanted her mother to feel the pain that she was feeling so she wasn't talking to her or eating. She just locked herself in her room waiting for the anger to go away.

There was a knock on her bedroom door that she ignored. When whoever it was kept knocking she finally shouted, "Go away."

Instead of going away, the door opened.

"Let me guess, my mother asked you to talk to me," Layla looked at Edison as he stood in her doorway.

"She didn't. I told her I would talk to you."

"But she came to you?"

"She called me."

"It figures," Layla scoffed, "She uses you, you know?"

"How so?" He walked into her room closing the door.

"She only calls you when she wants you to smooth things over with me. She knows you will take her side because you love her. My mother didn't have the decency to marry you but she continues to string you along because she knows you will ALWAYS be there," Layla said casually.

"Wow," Edison eyed her. He could tell by the way she was talking that she really was mad at her mother. He was going to have to approach this a different way. "You've been holding that in for a while," his tone was lighthearted to remove some of the tension from the moment.

"I'm just calling it how I see it. My mother is selfish and manipulative. She uses people for how they best meet her needs. She wants to be seen as this great martyr when all she is doing is playing games with people's lives to make herself feel important."

"I think you're being unfair," Edison stated calmly.

"You would say that," she rolled her eyes.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"You always take her side."

"I don't but here I'm leaning a little more towards understanding."

"She lied to me and kept me away from my dad. I can't understand of that."

"You could if you wanted to."

"You don't get it," Layla folded her arms and sat back on her bed.

"Help me understand," Edison said.

"She never apologized," Layla looked up at him, "I felt like something was wrong with me. Like I wasn't good enough for my dad to love. It hurt to watch my friends with their fathers. My mother knew I was hurting and could have stopped it but she didn't. She didn't stop my pain and now that I am pointing out to her that I was hurting, suddenly I'm the bad guy for being angry. How would you feel if someone hurt you and then made light of your pain by not acknowledging it?"

"I would be pissed," he admitted, "Your mother isn't perfect."

"I know."

"What she did was wrong. At the time, I'm sure she rationalized that her decision was for the right reasons. It made sense to her. We've all made mistakes when we were younger that we now regret."

"Can you please stop defending her?"

"I'm not trying to defend her."

"Everyone cowers to my mother. No one holds her accountable for her actions because people fear her. I'm not letting her off the hook so easy."

"So you want to go toe to toe with your mother?"

"I want her to take responsibility for her actions. I want an apology, not the same story of her teenage mother woes. I'm not going to feel sorry because she had unprotected sex and an unplanned pregnancy. This isn't about her. She doesn't get to give me a sad story and I forgive her. I want her to for once in my life care about my pain."

* * *

Olivia had buried herself in work. Work was her safe place, she always knew what she was doing at work. Her home life was a different story. After telling her daughter the identity of her father, Layla had locked herself in her room, refusing to talk to her mother. Work was easy. Work was not an anger teenage girl. Olivia could deal with work.

Olivia was on a late evening consultation call with a potential client. She was weighing the options of taking this case. A politician's 22 year old daughter had been dating a young man for over a year, only to find out that the boy just recently turned 17. She met him at a college party and claims not to know his real age. The boy's family was now asking for money or they were going to go to the press.

"Will you handle this for me, Olivia?"

"I told you will have my people look into this."

"Does that mean you are going to take my case?"

"It means we will look into it and get back to you. If your daughter knew this kid was under aged, then I don't want to take the case."

"She didn't know."

"We will see."

Olivia finished up her phone call and started to look over the notes she had taken. She jotted down a few more notes before closing the book. The sound of the elevator doors opening made Olivia look up. She watched as Edison and her daughter stepped out of the elevator and approached her office.

Without greeting her, Edison pointed at Layla and said, "Apologize to her."

"What?" Olivia looked at him confused.

"You never apologized to her. You explained yourself and that is great but without an apology it seems like are making excuses and making this about you. It is not about you, Liv. It is about her so apologize to her," not giving Olivia a chance to speak, Edison turned to Layla, "Listen to your mother. She is not perfect but she is still a damn good mother and you owe her a conversation."

They stared at Edison. He almost wanted to laugh at their mirroring expressions but he didn't.

"I'm going to go," he hugged Layla and then Olivia, "I only want to hear good things from this talk."

Edison left the two to talk out their issues. Once Olivia heard the elevator doors closed she turned to her daughter. She saw so much hurt in Layla's eyes. Olivia hurt knowing that she was the source of her daughter's pain.

"I'm sorry, Layla. I was scared at first and lead me to make a stupid mistake. At the time, I didn't fully understand how not having your father around would affect you. I thought that if I gave you this amazing life than you wouldn't miss not having a dad. It was stupid and selfish of me and if I could take it back, I would because the last thing I ever wanted to do was hurt you."

Layla stared at her mother for a long moment. She could tell that her mother was sincere so she wanted to try to be as well.

"I'm sorry for the way that I talked to you but I'm angry and hurt. I accept your apology but the hurt is still there," Layla paused, "I don't know how to not be so angry."

"We will get passed this. I know that you're hurt and angry but I'm going to fix this. I will do whatever it takes. I'm going to make this right."

"Can you start by telling Fitz that I'm not going to participate in the music program?"

"Don't quit because of this."

"It will be too awkward."

"Layla-"

"Mom, I can't do it now," she cut her off.

"You have to tell him yourself."

"Mom, I-"

"If you want to quit because it will be too awkward for you, then you have to tell him yourself."

"But you just said-"

"I'm not going to do this for you," Olivia folded her arms, "I've kept you two away long enough and I'm not going to stand in the way anymore. If you want to quit, you have to tell him yourself."

Layla mumbled something under her breath.

"What's that?"

"Are you almost done," Layla folded her arms, matching her mother, "I would like to go home now."

"I'll be done soon."

Layla let Olivia's office without another word. ' _We still have a long way to go_ ,' Olivia thought as she went to finish up the work she had been doing.

* * *

Fitz couldn't remember the last time he felt this out of it. The last two weeks of his life felt surreal. Who was he kidding? It was surreal. It wasn't every day that someone found out they had a teenage daughter in the world.

He hadn't talked to Olivia since she told him about Layla, and that had been two weeks ago. She had told him that she was going to tell her. He knew that she had but the waiting to hear back from her was killing him. He felt like he should be doing more but he didn't know what. How was he going to be a father to a teenage girl? There was so much time that had passed. He wondered what Layla thought about him.

Fitz sat in his studio trying to clear his mind the best way he knew how, with guitar in hand, he played a little and then randomly wrote down lyrics that popped into his head. After an hour, he had part of a song and decided to take a break. His mind was too all over the place to come up with anything good at the moment.

Fitz went to the kitchen to make a sandwich and get a drink. Midway through making his sandwich, the doorbell rang. He wasn't in the mood to deal with anyone so he ignored it. Whoever was at the door, kept ringing the doorbell.

Finally having enough, Fitz stopped what he was doing and went to the door, ready to spew a few choice words for the persistent person.

"What the hel-," Fitz stopped mid-sentence when he saw Layla standing on his stoop.

"Is this a bad time?" She asked in an innocent voice that held a little mischief behind it.

"No," Fitz shook his head when the initial shock at seeing her wore off, "Come in," Fitz moved aside to let her in.

"I'm not staying," Layla said as she walked in. She looked around at the hall and living room area, "Nice place."

"Thanks. I can give you the tour if you would like," Fitz walked back to the kitchen with Layla follow him.

"I'm not staying," she repeated her earlier statement.

"Do you want a sandwich?"

"Sure."

"How did you know where I live?"

"My mom has a guy," she said nonchalantly.

They were both really good at ignoring the elephant in the room.

Layla watched him as he made their sandwiches. She couldn't believe that after all this time she was sitting across from her father and he was making her a sandwich. It was something simple but something she thought would never happen.

She studied him as if she was looking at a stranger—she was actually. Before she looked at him as a fan of his music but now with fresh, wide eyes she was seeing him in a different light. There was so many things she wanted to know. Could she ask him? Should she asked him? Why hadn't he brought up the fact that she was his daughter? Maybe he didn't want to be in her life. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't want to be in her life. Her mom had kept them apart so long already. They could just pretend that they didn't know.

Before her thoughts got in the way, Layla decided to just tell him what she had come to say.

"My mom said I had to tell you in person," he looked up at the sound of her voice causing her to momentarily lose her nerve. "I'm not going to participate in the music program," she blurted out.

"Why?"

"What do you mean ' _why_ '? It would be too awkward now," Layla said as if it was the most obvious thing.

"Because I'm your father," Fitz finally said what they had both been avoiding since she stepped into his home.

Layla nodded.

"If I was to join the music program, every time I did good people would think it was because I'm your kid. Or if not that then we would have to lie," she paused, "That's if you wanted to say something in the first place. I was just assuming but you could want things to stay the same," she nervously rambled on.

Fitz picked up on what she was saying and quickly said, "I would never keep you a secret. You are my daughter and I want the world to know that."

Hearing those words from him meant the world to Layla. She didn't know how much she feared his rejection until he spoke those words to her.

"I just thought," she started but then stopped, suddenly overcome with emotions. Layla put her face in her hands trying to calm the tears that were threatening to fall. She wasn't a crier and she could not cry right now, not in front of him.

She didn't hear him walk from around the other side of the kitchen island but when she felt his arms around her, she broke. Fitz just held her as she sobbed on to his shirt.

* * *

"How are my babies?" Olivia asked her cousin Rochelle as they sat across from one another in Rochelle's dining room sharing some midday wine.

"They are a pain in my behind. Raquel thinks that she is grown since she turned thirteen and Riley misses her dad so she is acting out. I think she thought we were going to get back together and now that the divorce is final, she doesn't know how to deal with it."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"She will be fine."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm great. Glad to be free from a marriage but I'm sad for my daughters, especially Riley. She wants her daddy so much but he is a piece of shit. Do you know that he stopped coming to get them for his weekends two months ago? When I called him to ask he if he was coming, he went on about how I wanted to be a single mother when I filed for divorce so he was letting me have at it."

"Oh my God," Olivia was disgusted, "When did Gavin become so awful?"

"He always been shit but he became worse after I filed for divorce."

Rochelle had met Gavin while in college. At the time, Rochelle had been still sorting out her feelings for Derek. They had moved in together and one thing led to another and they slept together one night. Considering that they were just roommates at the time and neither one of them were looking to start a serious relationship, the decided to let their one night be just that and remain friends. Although Rochelle thought being friends was a good idea, she couldn't help the change of feelings she felt for him. He was her friend but she looked at him in a different light.

Gavin came in her life at a time that she needed him. She could get the relationship feel without the pressure or emotion involved in a real relationship. Gavin and Rochelle had a casual friends with benefits relationship and then Rochelle got pregnant. It wasn't planned but they were together. It was weird with them, baby, then relationship, and finally marriage.

Olivia always wondered if _love_ ever came for them but whatever they had worked for them. They both wanted the same thing, and it was good until five years into their marriage when he started having an affair. His affair lasted two years and resulted in him having a son.

The having a child outside of their marriage thing is what made Rochelle file for divorce. She couldn't live with the proof of his infidelity.

"Different subject since Gavin annoys my soul. So how is your baby daddy drama?"

"Rochelle," she sighed.

"What? You hear all my dirt all the time."

"My daughter is visiting with her dad right now and she hates me."

"She doesn't hate you."

"She does but we're working on it," she took a sip of her wine, "I hurt her so bad, Shelly."

"She will be fine."

"I don't know," Olivia looked down at her wine glass, "Do you know that Edison had to tell me to apologize to her? I couldn't think to do that on my own."

"I think you are being too hard on yourself," Rochelle said.

"I'm not. I lied about who her father was and I kept it from her for years."

"I know," Rochelle was being very nonchalant about the whole thing. She was still getting over the initial shock from everything that Olivia had told her. For years, Olivia had lied to everyone, her included, and for that Rochelle was a little hurt because she thought they shared everything. But one thing, Rochelle was sure of was that, if Olivia decided to keep Fitz and Layla from each other, she had good reason for doing so. She trusted her cousin's judgment.

"I just figure you had your own reasons and I respect them, whatever they were," Shelly said.

Olivia hesitated before saying, "I was scared that I really meant nothing to him." Olivia gave a weak smile before continuing, "I fell in love with him and I was scared that he didn't feel the same. What if he had moved on? Or what if I was just his ' _something to do_ ' for the summer? I didn't want to be rejected so I kept it secret. As the years went by and the bigger he got, it was easier to keep it a secret. It was easier to lie than to go to him looking like some opportunist."

Rochelle nodded, she understood exactly where Olivia was coming from.

"You're an amazing mother," Rochelle said simply, "No matter what you did or the mistakes they you have made, just know that you are a phenomenal mother. Layla is an amazing kid because of you. Sure this current situation isn't ideal but there are way more years ahead of them than behind them. You can't keep beating yourself up about this."

Olivia really needed to hear that. She kept thinking about the life her daughter could have had if she had just been braver. Although Layla was coming around and finally talking to her a little, she still felt tremendous guilt. She wondered if that would ever go away.

* * *

Olivia texted her daughter to tell her that she was outside. She threw her phone in her cup holder and waited for Layla to come out. Olivia felt her breath hitch as she watched Layla and Fitz walking towards her car. She didn't know why she wasn't prepared to see him. ' _Why does he throw me off of my game,_ ' Olivia thought as she rolled down her window.

"Mom," Layla said in a sing songy voice.

Olivia looked at her daughter. She could tell that Layla was up to something. She hadn't talked to her this nice in a while.

"Yes," Olivia smiled up at her.

"Can we go visit grandma and grandpa Dom?"

Olivia was taken aback by her question. She didn't know what she was expecting but it wasn't that.

"Um…"

Layla saw the split second of hesitation and thought quick on her feet, "It's Fitz's birthday next week and he is spending it in Santa Barbara and I want to go."  
"It is such short notice," Olivia said not missing a beat.

"You're the boss. You can miss a few days of work if you really wanted to," Layla smiled putting on the charm but her words still had an edge to them.

' _She is still testing me,_ ' Olivia thought. She could tell they still had a long way to go until Layla forgave her. She was allowing her the time to be angry because she knew that she had hurt her but they were going to have a serious talk soon if she kept trying to challenge her.

Watching from a few feet away, Fitz could see the standoff between the two. He felt like a stranger who should probably stand down but then again, he felt like it was his place to ease the clear tension between the two.

"We don't have to fly out west."

"I want to meet your dad," Layla said.

"I can get him to fly out here."

"Why change your plans?" Layla turned to her mother, "You're not going to make him change his plans, are you?"

"I'll think about it."

Olivia gave her a look that told her no more discussion was needed. Layla decided not to try her luck. She said goodbye to Fitz and got in the car.

* * *

 **ONE WEEK LATER**

Olivia couldn't believe that she had agreed to spend a week in Santa Barbara. She felt like she owed this to Layla but she was not looking forward to coming clean with her mother. She knew that it was what she had to do but at this point Olivia was just tired. She had taken enough of a beating from Layla's reaction, and to now have to tell everyone about the secret she had kept, Olivia was living out a nightmare.

The car that they were riding in slowed and Olivia glanced out of the window at the private jet that awaited them. Looking over at her daughter and seeing the excitement on her face seemed to warms Olivia's heart.

"Oh my God," Layla looked at her mother, "He has a private jet!"

Olivia just nodded. She had been on a private jet before but this was going to be a first for her daughter.

Layla quickly exited the car and moved toward the jet. Olivia followed behind, slowly getting out of the car and waiting to grab her bags.

"I hope you are ready for one insanely fun week," Fitz met Layla half way.

Fitz was still trying to figure out how to approach this whole being a father thing. He decided he was going to be himself. He didn't want to overcompensate for being absent from her life so he was just starting from now.

"You own a private jet?!" Layla was trying to contain her excitement but she couldn't.

"I do," he smiled at her excitement.

"Wow. This must have cost you a fortune."

"It was my first big investment," he simply said.

The jet was actually a 30th birthday present that he brought for himself. The fact that he had been able to afford it doing what he loved to do was a BIG accomplishment for him.

"I'm sorry," Layla looked down at her feet for a moment and then back at him, "I don't mean to be such a fan."

The comment made Fitz smile slightly. He hadn't been around her a lot but since finding out she was his daughter, he observed her more. She shared so many little traits of his. He was reminded of this as he watched her fumble through her excitement mixed with being unsure of how to approach this new found relationship. He felt the exact same way.

"It's no problem."

Fitz noticed Olivia approaching them with a bag in her hand, the driver behind her caring additional bags. We she was close enough, he reached for her bag.

"I got it," she said.

"No, I insist," he took her bag from her.

She smiled at him and Fitz motioned for Layla and Olivia to walk up the steps before him.

* * *

After a five hour flight from DC to Santa Barbara, Olivia got settled in at her mother's home while Layla went with Fitz to meet her grandfather for the first time. After putting away her clothes for the week, Olivia went back downstairs to join her mother in the living room.

"So what brings you on this side of the US?"

"Layla," Olivia said without elaborating.

"Where is she? I haven't seen her since I got in."

"She is with her dad."

"Edison is here?"

Olivia looked at her confused.

"Why would you ask that? You know Edison is not her father."

"I know about as much about her father as you do."

Olivia felt herself getting angry. This was the reason that she never came see her mother. There was not one time that her mother didn't have something smart to say about her or the way that she was raising Layla.

The truth of the matter was that Olivia and her mother's relationship was never the same after Maya found out that Olivia had hid her pregnancy. Eli was mad but upon seeing Layla, he got over it and went back to being a loving parent. Maya however, had found out about the baby after she was born and she never forgave her daughter for that.

They didn't talk for years after Layla was born. Maya simply choose not to accept what she saw as her daughter's greatest failure. It wasn't until Layla was three years old that Maya actually met her granddaughter and that was because Olivia was in town for Rochelle's graduation and decided to pay her mother a visit.

As with Eli, Maya fell in love with Layla the moment she saw her but her feelings toward Olivia weren't there. Over the years, the only time Maya and Olivia have been brought together was because of Layla or Nicolas. Other than that, they had no relationship. Olivia tried with her mother for a while but she couldn't do it anymore because her mother acted as if she hated her. Maya took every opportunity to tell Olivia how much of a failure she was because Layla didn't have a dad. Olivia never understood why her mother was so awful towards her but for her sanity, she kept her distance.

"But you do KNOW that Edison is not her father."

"Do I? I'm sure Edison was in DC when you were sleeping around unprotected. It could be him."

Olivia stood up to leave.

"What? You can't handle a few words now? Ms. Big shot DC fixer can't handle words now," Maya laughed.

"I am being the most respectful I can be in your home. I'm walking away because the person in front of me who is supposed to be my mother is a hateful, sad woman who gets joy out of giving me shit."

"Oh, stop being so dramatic."

"I'm not being dramatic. I'm tired of you acting as if I created some great sin against you. I'm tired of you beating me up about the way I chose to raise MY CHILD."

"You chose to be a single mother."

"Layla is with her dad. They are on the other side of the lake. That is where his dad lives. I knew who he was and where he was this whole time but I lied because I was a scared teenager who found herself pregnant by a guy who lived on the other side of the country. I didn't sleep around. I slept with Layla's father twice and then I didn't have sex again for another five years."

Maya looked at her daughter for a moment.

"What? Do you want a medal for not sleeping around?"

"I don't want anything from you."

"Good because you don't get a medal for lying and not being a slut."

"And you don't get a medal for being shitty human being."

"Watch the way you speak to me in my home."

"Do you want me to leave?"

"Did I say I wanted you to leave?"

"I don't want to be harassed by you this whole week."

"Don't be so dramatic, Olivia."

"I'm not being dramatic. You act like you hate me. I have never done anything to you but you still give me shit all the time."

"You don't like people telling you about yourself. That's your problem."

"My problem is that I can't just come visit my mother without having to hear some fictionalized version of why I fail at life. This is an old story. It has been told before, no need to go over it again."

Olivia didn't give her mother time to respond. She just left the room, completely tired with the back and forth that was never going to get them anywhere. This was going to be a long week.

* * *

It had only been three weeks since Layla found out that Fitz was her dad. Ever since finding out, she was extremely nervous when being around him. Part of her knew she was still stars truck from being a fan of his for years. The other part knew that she wanted to impress him so much that she actually felt anxiety about it. She felt like she could say or do something that would make him go away forever. That thought alone scared her more than she cared to admit.

Layla had spent the last hour with her father and grandfather. There was a lot of idle talk, just them getting to know each other. To her surprise, and relief, Jerry brought down some of the nervousness she felt at first. He told lots of stories of Fitz in his childhood and even pulled out a few photo albums. She heard stories of her grandmother that made her smile but it also made her a little sad that she didn't get the chance to meet her. From the way they talked about her, she seemed like an amazing woman.

"Fitz peed the bed until he was nine years old," Jerry said causing Layla to laugh.

"That is not true."

"It is true. I caught you trying to change your sheets in the morning."

"Okay, it may have happened once," Fitz admitted, "But don't make it like it was an everyday thing."

"It is okay, son. There is nothing wrong with peeing the bed so close to your tween age."

Layla covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. She was enjoying the exchange between the two men.

Having poked fun at his son enough, Jerry decided to change gears. He looked at Layla and asked, "When is your birthday?"

"May 14, 2000. Yours?"

"January 11, 1952."

Layla quickly did the math in her head and made a mental note of his age and birth date.

"So I hear you recently got accepted into a performing art school," Jerry stated.

"My best friend Mia goes to that school and told me about the music program there. She knew that I was a fan of Fitz, so when she thought that I should audition to get into the program. I didn't think that I had a chance because I wasn't already a student there and it wasn't an open audition to the general public. She convinced me that I should skip school and go to New York for an audition. I did and now I'm here."

"I guess it is a good thing you skipped school."

"It was the first time I ever did it and it led to life changing revelations."

Jerry smiled at her.

"Have you always liked singing?"

"I guess I have. I didn't notice it until I was seven years old. My dance class was having this daddy-daughter ball and I didn't have a dad so I decided I wanted to quit dancing. I was devastated and came home crying to my mom. I asked her about my dad and she told me he didn't know about me but that he gave me music and my name. I didn't even notice how much I had been singing prior to that. She later played me the song Layla by Eric Clapton and told me how much my dad loves Eric and the song. I listened to it for hours until I learned the words," Layla paused when she noticed how her father and grandfather had been looking at her.

' _Great, you have made this awkward_ ,' she thought.

"I didn't really take my singing seriously until I was like ten or eleven," she simply clarified.

She wanted to just disappear. The way they were looking at her made Layla feel self-conscious. She had made it awkward. She had sucked the lighthearted joy out of the room with her story about growing up without a daddy.

Layla stood up and excused herself to go to the bathroom. Once in the bathroom, she turned on the water and pulled out her phone, dialing her mother's number. After two rings, she finally heard her mother's voice.

"Mom, can you come here please?"

"What's wrong?"

"I made it awkward. I told the story of quitting dance class."

"It's not awkward."

"It is. You didn't see the way they looked at me," Layla just sighed, "Can you just come, please?"

"Sure," Olivia said hearing the urgency in voice.

After hanging up the phone, Olivia put on her shoes and left. She was happy to get out of her mother's house for a little while but she just wish it wasn't because her daughter was freaking out. Olivia wanted nothing more than for Fitz and Layla to be able to have an amazing relationship. But that was going to take a while and Olivia vowed to herself to assist in any way that she could.

Olivia used the ten minute walk to the Grant house to think. She was slowly starting to forgive herself for the lie that she told. That was the only way either of them were going to be able to move pass this. She couldn't help anyone if she was still feeling guilty and not thinking clearly.

Olivia knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Moments later Fitz opened the door.

"Hi," Olivia gave him a half smile.

"She called you," he stated.

Olivia nodded, "She thinks that she made it awkward by over sharing."

"She didn't," Fitz stepped aside and let her in.

"I know that and you know that but she is a teenager so she has the tendency to freak out occasionally."

"Can I talk to her?" Fitz asked.

"Sure," Olivia was a little surprised by his question but she had no plans on standing in his way when it came to Layla. "Do you want me to go?"

"No, you can stay," he quickly said. "Have you ever met my father?"

"No," this was not the way Olivia imagined this going.

"He is the kitchen. I'll introduce you."

Fitz walked towards the kitchen and Olivia followed behind him.

"Dad, Olivia's here," Fitz said as he entered the kitchen. He turned to face Olivia, "Olivia this is my dad, Fitzgerald Thomas Grant II. Dad, this is Olivia."

Jerry stood and offered his hand.

"It's nice to meet you, Olivia," he shook her hand.

"Nice to meet you too, Mr. Grant."

"Please, call me Jerry."

Fitz let the room and went to go talk to Layla. He knocked on the bathroom door and waited.

Thinking it was her mother on the other end of the door, Layla quickly opened the door. When she saw Fitz her eyes dropped.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to take so long," she attempted to move pass him.

"Would you like to talk about what is bothering you?"

"What do you mean?"

"You left the kitchen abruptly and then you called your mom because something is bothering you, right?"

"I..uh…," Layla was at a loss for words.

"How about we start with what is wrong?"

She was silent for a moment.

"I embarrassed myself. I saw the way you and your dad looked at me when I told that story. I sucked the air out of the room and made everything awkward. I probably sounded pathetic talking about my sad little life before finding you," she paused, looking away for a moment. "I didn't have a horrible life. I know people have it worse than I did. I got dance classes and everything else I wanted except a dad. Complaining about not having you in my life as if my mother didn't do enough is pathetic."

"It is not pathetic. You are entitled to feel what you feel. Just because you grew up in a nice household with lots of love doesn't mean that you are not allowed to feel sadness at what you didn't have."

It was crazy how similar they were. Looking at her, it was like she was living his life on a different level. When he was younger, he felt guilty sometimes at his emotions after his mother had passed. He had a good life, he had her the years that she was here, there was no reason for him to complain, or so he thought. Over the years Fitz learned to accept his feelings. Losing his mother was always going to be a defining moment in his life. The same was for Layla and her finding out that he was her father.

"You didn't make it awkward downstairs. I was actually thinking about how similar we are."

"Really," she looked at him suspiciously.

"Yes," he nodded, "No one knows this but my dad, but the reason that I start playing guitar was because of my mother. After she died I found some old albums of hers. My dad and I actually sat down and listened to them together. He shared things about her that I never knew. I never knew about her love of music but once I found out, I just wanted to have a piece of my mother. So music became that thing. It connected me to my mother even though she wasn't physically here. Every time I played I felt like I was playing for her."

"Wow," Layla was blown away. The similarities in their stories about discovering their love for music made her feel a connection with him.

After a moment, Layla said, "You make me nervous."

She figured it was best to just get it there in the open.

"Why?" He asked.

"I've been a fan of yours for awhile so there is the whole star struck thing. Then finding out you're my dad. Of all the people in the world it turns out to be you," she looked at him before saying quickly, "No offense."

"None taken. I feel totally unqualified to be your dad."

Layla didn't know how to take his statement at first but then he clarified, "You make me nervous too. It is unknown territory so there is going to be nerves. The thing is, how do we get pass this?"

Layla was quiet for a moment.

"I guess by getting to know each other."

Fitz nodded and smiled at her.

"What would you like to know?"

"How do you feel about me? What do you think about me?"

"To wake up one day and have a teenage daughter kind of throws your world for a loop but it's not something you can get out of."

"You don't have to be in my life," she cut him off.

"What?" Her words had caught him off guard.

"If you don't want to be in my life then you don't have too," she said simply.

"I never said-"

"You said this is something that threw your world for a loop but you can't get out of it. If you want to, I'm giving you an out."

"That's not how this works."

"There are plenty of fathers who choose to not be apart of their children's lives."

Fitz stared at her for a moment. She was really her mother's child, they were both very pessimistic in their beliefs. He wondered what had happened to them to make them like this.

"You're far too young to be this cynical."

"I don't want to get use to this if it is not going to last," Layla let her biggest fear out.

"I'm not going anywhere," Fitz said confidently.

"You say that now."

"And I'll say it to my grandchildren in 20 years."

She smiled at his words, feeling a little at ease.

"I think since we both are nervous wrecks who have no idea what we are doing in life, we should just take this one day at a time. I'm sure we can figure this out together."

Layla hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is it okay if I call you dad?"

"Of course," Fitz answered quickly.

Layla smiled and reminded Fitz of Olivia. He threw his arm over her shoulder and together they walked back downstairs to join Jerry and Olivia.

* * *

Layla had been having the time of her life getting to know her dad and grandpa. After the first day and initial nerves wore off it had been full speed ahead. The second day there her dad had taken her to lunch at this local spot called Del Toro's. It was one of those cafe's that offered open mic nights and space for people to be creative. There was a recording studio in the back on the second floor and after they ate lunch, Fitz had taken her on a tour of the studio. She got a chance to watch him work as he created a random track. She had been a fan of his music for a long time so to actually watch him create a track left her in awe. The whole thing felt surreal for her.

Today was Fitz's 35th birthday. Layla didn't have anything to give him so she woke up early to make him breakfast. She didn't know exactly what he liked so she made pancakes and an omelet to be on the safe side.

After breakfast Layla went to visit her mother. As she rushed into her grandmother's house, she was quickly stopped by her grandmother calling her name. Layla stepped back into her grandmother's line of sight.

"Yes?"

"I have barely seen you this whole trip."

"I know. I'm sorry."

"How are you liking your new family?"

"They're nice. I'm having a really great time."

Maya smiled at her, "That's wonderful."

"Where is my mom?"

"In her room."

Layla heard her grandmother mumble something but didn't turn around to see what she said. She headed straight went to her mother's room.

"Pack an overnight bag."

"For what?"

"Today is dad's birthday so we're going to spend the day in LA."

"I don't know if I-"

"I want you to come and he wants you to come. So please come," she gave her puppy dog eyes.

"Okay."

Olivia got off of the bed and began to look through her things to pack an overnight bag.

* * *

Olivia peaked behind the tree to make sure that no one had followed her. She had made it this far without being hit and she wanted to keep it that way. She looked around and seeing no one in sight she decided to make a run for it. Olivia ran out from behind the tree at top speed.

Running a few yards, she saw the red flag she was searching for. As she walked towards it, she heard footsteps behind her. Taking off running again, she snatched the flag as she passed it. The footsteps behind her picked up.

Olivia felt a sharp pain in her arm but she still kept running until she reached another tree. Taking a few seconds to catch her breath, she turned to see who was chasing her. It was Fitz and he was closer to her than she thought. Her instincts kicked in and she shot him with the paintball gun.

"Looks like you got me," he threw his hands up.

Olivia sighed, relieved that she could stop running for a little bit. Before getting a chance to fully catch her breath, she heard three loud pops followed by a pain in her abdomen.

Layla snatched the red flag from her, "Sorry mom but I win!"

Olivia looked from Layla to Fitz.

"Human sacrifice. I was already been hit," he pointed to his thigh were Layla had shot him and then to his shoulder were Olivia had shot, "She needed help to take you down."

"That is cheating," she shot him again.

Layla laughed and Olivia turned and shot her.

"As you can see, mom hates to lose," Layla said as she touched the spot where she was hit.

"No one likes to lose."

They began to walk back to the main entrance of the park.

"What exactly did you win again?"

"Bragging rights," Layla stuck her tongue out at her mother, "And that is just fine with me."

Fitz watched the two playfully go back and forth. He could not remember a time when he was happier. This had been the best birthday that he could ever ask for.

* * *

Olivia took off her top and examined her bruises in the mirror. She counted four welts on her, three on her abdomen with one being close to her rib cage and one on her left arm. She would be lying if she said she didn't have a good time playing paintball with Fitz and Layla today but she didn't expect getting hit to be so painful or to leave bruises like she was seeing on her skin.

Fitz stood in the doorway unnoticed, watching Olivia. He had came to give her ice for her bruises and was greeted by the sight of her in just a bra and yoga pants. Fitz couldn't take his eyes off of her. He started at her calves and slowly moved his eyes up. He stared at her ass a little longer than he should have before continuing up with his gaze. For a brief moment he imagined his tongue licking her back dimples and along her spine.

Looking up, Olivia noticed Fitz standing in the doorway staring at her. She turned to face him and still he said nothing so she spoke up.

"Fitz."

Hearing his name snapped him out of whatever trance he had been in and he stepped forward.

"I brought you some ice for your welts," he handed her an ice pack.

"Thanks," she took the ice pack, "You could have warned me that paintball hits would hurt so bad."

"If I had told you, would you have played?"

"Of course. I love a challenge."

Fitz felt himself begin to fall under her spell again. Suddenly he couldn't speak and his eyes dropped to her lace covered breast. Olivia liked seeing the effect she had on him. She just stood there just letting his eyes wander all over her body.

A loud scream pulled them from their staring contest. Both rushed out of the bathroom and went down the hall to the living room where the scream had come. Once in the living room they were met with the sight a naked woman scrambling to cover herself and Layla sitting on the couch with her eyes close.

"What the hell," Olivia moved towards her daughter.

Hearing her mother's voice Layla opened one of her eyes.

"Why don't you have a shirt on?" She asked, "Who is the naked woman?"

"Mellie, what the hell are you doing in my house naked?"

"I came to surprise you for your birthday," she pulled on her coat securing it around her. "Who are these people? Why doesn't she have a shirt on?" She looked at Olivia, "Who are you?"

Olivia looked at her like she had lost her mind but before she could say anything, Fitz pulled the woman by her arm and out of the living room.

"Get off of me, Fitz," she pulled away once they were in the hall. "Who the hell are they? What the hell is going on?"

"Don't question me," Fitz moved her towards the door.

"So you tell me that you don't want to continue our relationship so you can have sex orgies with random women? And who was the girl on the couch? She looks young. Is that what you are into now?"

Fitz felt himself get angry at her accusation.

"She is my daughter," Fitz said.

"Your what?"

"My daughter."

"Fitz, I-"

Before she had a chance to finish her statement, Fitz turned when he saw Olivia and Layla approaching with their bags.

"We're going to go."

"You don't have to leave. She was just on her way out," Fitz gestured towards the open door.

"No. We don't want to ruin your birthday surprise so we'll get a hotel room for the night and call you in the morning," Olivia walked pass them and out the door.

"Bye dad," Layla gave him a quick hug before leaving out of the door.

Fitz watched the door long after they left. He didn't know how such an amazing day had went to hell so quickly.

"Well since they're gone," Mellie opened her jacket.

"Get out."

"Fitz-"

" **GET. OUT. OF. MY. HOUSE** ," he yelled in a voice that scared them both.

Mellie quickly closed her coat and scrambled out of the house. Fitz slammed the door behind her and walked to his phone. He had to call Olivia.


	6. Almost Doesn't Count

**Almost Doesn't Count**

" _Almost made you love me. Almost made you cry. Almost made you happy, baby. Didn't I? Didn't I? You almost had me thinking. You were turned around but everybody knows almost doesn't count. Almost heard you saying you were finally free. What was always missing for you, baby? You'd found it in me but you can't get to heaven half off the ground. Everybody knows almost doesn't count._ "—Brandy

* * *

Olivia was in her element. She was working, fixing things, keeping busy. Staying busy helped keep her mind off of things, helped keep her mind from being annoyed at herself, and what she saw as a moment of lapse in judgment. She was not the girl who thought in fairytales. Life had taught her that nothing was ever easy but somehow she let herself believe for a moment, that maybe anything was possible and that destiny had a way of putting people in the right place at the right time.

Olivia had allowed her mind to wander down the road of what could have been until she was smacked in the face with reality. She had returned from her trip to the west coast two weeks ago and not matter how hard she tried she still felt completely stupid. Of course, Fitz had a girlfriend or a woman or women that he was sleeping with. It was to be expected in his line of work. The question was, why did this bother her so much? Maybe it was spending so much time with him. Maybe it was the way that he had looked at her in the bathroom moments prior to seeing the naked woman in his living room. She thought she had felt something in that moment. Hell, she knew that they had been flirting with one another. Or maybe he was just charming and she didn't know how to read men anymore. Had she ever knew how to read men?

It was this confusion and her frustration at herself that kept her fully immersed in work. Work was what she was good at, it always helped to give her clarity when her life seemed to be in disarray.

Olivia sat on her couch in her office surrounded by files, her laptop was on the side of her, iPad in her lap, she was going over contracts for a client and that was always a tedious task. Unbeknownst to her, Abby had been walking back and forth around her door for the last hour and now was standing just outside her doorway watching her, contemplating coming in or not.

"Why are you just standing here?"

Abby jumped at the sound of Huck's voice.

"Jesus!" She held her hand to her chest, "We have been over this Huck."

Olivia looked up when she heard their voices.

"Abby wants to talk to you," Huck looked at Olivia.

Abby hit him on the arm and he simply walked away.

"Abby, what's up?"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"It's just that you're working, like a lot. And have been since your impromptu trip to California. You jumped in like you are on speed and it has been non-stop for the last two weeks."

"I have just had a lot of things on my mind recently and work helps to clear my mind."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Abby took a seat on the arm of the chair.

"Not here."

"Oh, right, work. No personal talk in the workplace."

It was a rule that Olivia and Abby had talked about. Knowing Abby since college, she was her best friend and when Abby came to work for her after getting out of her abusive marriage, they agreed to keep their personal relationship separate from their professional one.

"Come over tonight."

"I'm trying to clear my mind, not talk about what is on my mind."

"I have wine."

"What am I some alcoholic who can be lured with the promise of free wine?"

"I'll cook too."

"I'll be there."

Abby smiled.

"Great! I'll make your favorite and will catch up on everything," Abby stood and left the office.

Olivia went back to work. She lost track of time and had it not been for her phone ringing she would not have stopped working. Looking down at her phone, she saw the name ' _Don't go down this road_ ' and just let it ring. Soon after she got a notification that she had a voicemail. Olivia didn't plan on listening to it and he knew it because soon after she received two text messages.

 **Don't go down this road:** _I know you are not going to listen to my voicemail but we need to talk._

 **Don't go down this road:** _I don't expect you to respond that message either but it would be nice if you did because I'm not going away._

Olivia couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face but she quickly tried to hide it despite being alone. A part of her felt joy at the fact that he cared enough to want to talk to her but then the other part of her knew that she was probably thinking too much into this. He didn't care about her in the way that she thought. He was probably just reaching out to her so that he could keep the lines of communication open for their daughter. Olivia still needed time. She knew that she would have to talk to him sooner or later but until she could sort out her feelings and figure out her next steps, she was going to continue to ignore him.

* * *

Layla and Mia lay on the couch watching Divergent. The movie was almost over and both girls were into it, well they were into Four.

"Shailene Woodley is not even that cute. I just don't understand this connection," Mia said.

"This movie is not about her," Layla reached for some popcorn, "I mean it is but she is not important. Look at Four's back."

"I want to lick his tattoos."

"I feel like his tattoos would taste like love and happiness," Layla looked over at a smiling Mia, "I hang around you too much. That didn't even sound like me."

"Embrace it, my friend. This is what it feels like to have a celebrity crush."

"Having a celebrity crush is the most pointless thing in the world. I'll never meet them so it is literally setting me up for heartache."

"You sound like your mother."

"Yes, because my mother talks about having celebrity crushes."

"You know what I mean. You are way too young to be this old," Mia turned off the TV, "Let's go do something."

"Something like what?"

"I don't know. Don't you want to get into trouble? Do something that you will regret?"

"No. This already sounds like a bad idea. The last time I let you talk me into doing something crazy I found out…," Layla stopped herself before the words came out.

"You found out what?"

"Nothing," Layla took the remote and turned the TV back on.

"Oh no," Mia snatched the remote and turned the TV off, "What did you find out? Tell me. It's not like we are not best friends who have ten years in this thing."

"You make us sound so old when you put it like that."

"You're trying to change the subject. It is not working because I know you."

"I recently found out who my father was."

"Whoa! Maury stuff—"

"Mia! Do you see why I didn't want to say anything to you?"

"Don't be so dramatic. This is my role as your _fun, always speaking_ _my mind_ fried."

"Can I please have a serious friend? One of doesn't make Maury jokes because it took me fifteen years to find out who my real dad was."

"Sure," Mia's demeanor changed and she became more serious. "So you say that you found out who your dad was?"

"I hate you."

"I'm trying to be serious for you."

"What is with the accent?"

"When I think of a serious business woman I think of Victoria Beckham."

"What about Oprah?"

"Oprah is too self-helpy for me. Being Oprah would be like being Dr. Phil, a richer, more fabulous, amazing Queen version of Dr. Phil but Dr. Phil nonetheless and I didn't think this was a Dr. Phil moment."

"Michelle Obama," Layla threw out.

"You're Michelle Obama."

"Really?" Layla thought for a moment, "I kind of am like Michelle Obama."

"Yes, and I am Victoria Beckham. We have also strayed so far from the conversation at hand."

"Okay, continue."

"So you found out who your dad is?"

"Yes."

Mia stared at her for a long moment waiting for her to continue. When Layla said nothing, she pinched her.

"Do I have to pull this out of you? What is his name? Where is he from? What does he do for a living? Do you have siblings? Is he married? What is his ethnic background because I have questions about you?"

"You have questions about me, my racially ambiguous friend?"

She pinched Layla again, "You know that my mother is from Sri Lanka and my dad is Italian."

"Do I? Do I know that about you?"

"You're still changing the subject. What's your dad's name?"

"Fitzgerald."

"No," Mia was shocked.

"Yes," Layla nodded.

"Fitzgerald Grant? The super producer," Mia eyed her, "I don't believe you."

"Hand to God," Layla raised her hand.

"You don't go to church so your hand to God means nothing."

"Okay," Layla looked through the pile of blankets and pillows that surrounded them on the couch. She found her phone and punched in her code.

"What are you doing?" Mia watched her as she slid across her phone screen.

Layla touched her dad's number and when the phone started dialing she put it on speaker. They listened for three rings before Fitz baritone voice came through the other end of the phone. The death grip that Mia had on Layla's arm upon hearing his voice momentarily took her voice away.

"Layla?"

"Hey dad," Layla didn't know why but there was slight hesitation in her voice. This was her first time calling him dad in front of someone who wasn't family, and even then only her mother and grandfather had heard her.

"Hey. What's up?"

"Nothing. I'm just sitting at home with Mia. We are bored and she is trying to convince me to do something that I will regret later."

"No, I'm not," Mia quickly blurted out while slapping Layla in the arm, "Hello, Mr. Grant."

"Hey Mia."

"Oh my God!" Mia had a moment, she released something that was half scream, half squeal.

"He is on speaker phone."

"Oh God! He can hear me," she covered her mouth with her hand.

Fitz chuckled.

"Ignore her," Layla looked at her overdramatic friend. "Are you in the city?"

"I am actually. I'm on my way to look at some condos."

"You're moving here?"

"That's the plan since I'm going to be teaching here and you're here."

"Aww, that was so sweet," Mia said.

"If you guys are seriously bored, you can come and help me look at some places if you want to. We can go shopping and to eat when we're done."

"Of course we want to," Mia shouted it.

"He is on speaker," Layla said.

"Sorry. My bad. I just get a little excited sometimes."

"Its fine."

"You are such a sweet and kind man."

Layla looked at Mia like she had lost her mind. Mia just shrugged.

"I can be there in fifteen minutes."

"Okay, we'll be ready."

Layla hung up and Mia stared at her.

"What?"

"Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III is your father."

"Yeah."

"You're so calm about this."

"I have had almost a month and a half to process this. We talked while in LA and everything is fine."

"You owe me BIG time. You know that right?"

"Why?"

"I helped you find your dad. I changed your life forever. That is some extra special next level best friend stuff right there. You have name your first kid after me or get your dad to introduce me to Drake. I prefer to meet Drake though."

"I am not paying you any attention," Layla stood and began to fold the blankets that they had been using. "Text my mom and tell her where we're going."

* * *

Olivia sat at Abby's kitchen table working on her second glass of wine as Abby loaded her dishwasher. Abby had invited her over for dinner and girl talk but Olivia managed to remain tight lipped the whole evening, talking more about Abby's life and work related things. Taking a sip from her glass of wine, Olivia was feeling good and more than ready to share now.

"Do you remember when Layla skipped school to go audition in New York?"

"Yeah," Abby absentmindedly said.

"The person auditioned for was her dad and he never knew anything about her."

"Oh," Abby reached for her wine class and walked over to take a seat across from Olivia.

"I had to tell them since they will be around each other and that was completely horrible. Fitz took it better than Layla did. He was still upset but he was more understanding. Layla hated me. She called me selfish and bunch of other things. It was a rough few weeks. The trip to LA was for her. She wanted to meet her grandfather and celebrate dad's birthday."

"What happened in LA?"

"We had a great time. Layla stopped acting like she hated me. She was nervous about meeting her grandfather so she leaned on me a little more. She wanted me around and I didn't want to be around my mother so it worked out for both of us."

"I feel like there is more," Abby said.

"It was nice. We had a big breakfast with his dad and then we hung out just three of us for the rest of his birthday. It felt like what could have been I haven't kept them apart."

"Did he do something to you?"

"He has a girlfriend or something like that. A woman showed up at his condo naked to surprise him for his birthday."

"Oh. That sounds awkward."

"It was. I felt so stupid. I don't what I was thinking. Of course he had someone in his life. It just…for the first time it felt like I was living the dream. We had a family and it was nice but that's not reality. I don't even know why I allowed my mind to wander down to the rode of what if," Olivia paused before taking a long gulp of wine.

"You're entitled to fantasize about what could be."

"It's stupid though. I shouldn't be fantasizing about this life that is not mine. I'm not some lovesick teenager."

"Oh my God, Olivia. It is not the end of the world because you think about a guy," Abby took out her cell phone, "What's his name?"

"Fitzgerald Grant."

Abby did a web search on her phone. They sat in silence as Abby read up on Fitz.

"He is cute," Abby said when she finally looked up from her phone, "Where did you two meet?"

"His family owns a house across the lake from where my mother lives. I met him the summer before college and we hung out a lot. We slept together twice and I ended up pregnant."

"Did you love him?"

"I was eighteen."

"Okay. Did you love him?"

Olivia thought for a long moment.

"Yes. I know that it is irrational to love someone in such a short amount of time but my actions told me that I loved him. I lost my virginity to this man and we have matching tattoos."

Abby watched Olivia as her mind wandered off. The look on her face told her all she needed to know. Her friend was in love. Being Olivia she was fighting it, throwing up obstacles of why it won't work. Olivia was over thinking it. She always did. She always had to be the rational one, the one always thinking a few steps ahead. She led with her brain and not her heart.

"You're in love."

"I'm not. Things change. People change—"

"You're in love," Abby repeated cutting Olivia off, "And that is okay. You do know that it is okay to be open to love."

Olivia smiled at her best friend. She really admired Abby for still being able to take chances and believe in love after being in an abusive marriage. She had gotten out and didn't allow the pain she went through to change her heart.

"Get out of your head. It is okay to let your heart lead," Abby continued, "I'm not saying you have to throw yourself at him but if he is trying don't push him away."  
"I admire your ability to be so open love and making mistakes."

"I know life is not a fairytale and that love is messy and painful but that's not going to scare me away from the beautiful. Every mistake is a lesson and I'm here to remind you of that every time."

"I don't like making mistakes."

"Well this mistake looks fun," Abby looked down at her phone. Abby touched the screen of her phone and seconds later the sound of a guitar started playing. "Let's listen to your baby daddy."

"He is really talented," was all Olivia said as Fitz voice started to sing.

* * *

Fitz had a really long day and all he wanted to do was get up to his hotel room and go to bed. That wasn't going to happen because to his surprise, Mellie had tracked him down in DC and wanted to talk. He refused to take her upstairs because he didn't want her getting any ideas, so they sat in the hotel lobby talking.

"I'm sorry about what happened back at your place."

Fitz just stared at her without saying a word.

"Don't look at me like that."

"I'm just…I wish I could say that you shock me but if anyone was going to show up at my place naked, it would be you."

"Well, I am a woman who always goes after what they want."

"I'm really confused though."

"About what?"

"What would make you think about showing up to my place like that? We haven't been together in a year and a half."

"Honestly?" He nodded. "I missed you."

"I don't buy that."

"You didn't let me finish," she paused and he motioned for her to continue, "I miss us, the way we use to be so I got this bright idea to surprise you on your birthday. I called your dad's house and he said that you were in LA so I saw it as a sign and I just showed up."

"You showed up naked."

"Yes, clothes was only an option in your dad's place. If you were at your dad's house, I was going to ask you to dinner and seduce you then. But you were home so skip dinner get right to the seduction." She waited for him to say something. When he didn't, she continued, "A tiny part of me was hoping that I could sex you into not taking the job in DC."

"Now that is the Melody Dennis that I know."

Melody Dennis was an attractive older woman who had frequently worked with Fitz due to her work as an entertainment lawyer. She was ten years older than him and watching her work slightly turned him on. When they first met he was twenty-six and she wrote him off as just being another young man in the entertainment field. He never tried to hit on her cause he could tell she wasn't interest. So for five years they had professional relationship and nothing more. One night that all changed. They were working late and talking and the next thing Fitz knew, they were having sex in her office. Fitz could tell that Mellie was never serious about them. He was just the younger dude who she was sleeping with. She only wanted him when he didn't pay her any attention. It was more about the chase for her. Outside of the bedroom, they kept up a working relationship and somewhat of a friendship.

"I said I was being honest."

"So why aren't you being honest with yourself?"

"What do mean?"

"You saying you miss us when there was never an ' _us_ '."

"We were great together."

"We have literally nothing in common."

"I wouldn't say nothing," she said suggestively.

"We were sleeping together for three years."

"And those were the best three years of your life."

"You are being way too cocky. It was nice but definitely not the best."

"I never heard any complaints."

"That's cause I'm a gentleman."

She smiled at him but say anything for a long while.

"So, you have a kid?"

"I do."

"How did that come up?"

"Layla, my kid, came to audition with me. She didn't go to Duke Ellington but her friend did so she told her how I was going to be running the music program. She auditioned and blew me away. I got her into the workshop for the program and when I went to tell her and I saw her and her mother together, I knew."

"That is very romantic. Are you sure she is your kid?"

"Yes."

"How do you know? It's not like you remember every girl you slept with. She could be lying."

"She's not."

"I'm just saying, you might want to get a test done."

"I don't."

"Okay."

"So you're really doing this teaching thing?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm really interested in helping kids with their music."

"I thought I broke your heart and you were running away."

"You really think highly of yourself," Fitz stood up, "I have a meeting in the morning and I'm tired."

"So you're not inviting me up?"

"We spend the last thirty minutes down talking in the lobby for a reason."

"Because you can't keep your hands off of me?"

"Goodnight, Mellie."

Fitz walked away and left her sitting there.

* * *

Fitz sat in the principal's office at Duke Ellington, feeling very much like a student in trouble. He sat in front of the principal Sally Langston and music program board member Elizabeth North. He figured now was a good time to tell them about Layla so that they knew the whole situation from the beginning. He didn't want it to come up later and be an issue.

"It was recently brought to my attention that one of the students participating in the music program is my daughter."

"Excuse me?" Liz asked.

"Is this some kind of a joke?" Principal Langston asked.

"No," Fitz shook his head. "I recently found out that Layla Pope is my daughter."

"The girl who you fought hard to get into this program?"

Fitz nodded.

"You expect us to believe that you just found out that this girl is your daughter?" Liz asked incredulously.

"Yes," Fitz said calmly.

"Unbelievable," she turned towards Sally, "He knew and he used power and celebrity to get his daughter into this school."

Sally looked between Fitz and Liz.

"Liz, can you give us a moment?"

Fitz could tell that Liz didn't like being asked to leave but she did so quietly. When the door shut behind her, Fitz turned back to Principal Langston. She stared at him for a long moment and he resist the urge to squirm in his seat.

"Mr. Grant, you do realize the conflict of interest this puts you in and the position that it puts the school in," Sally looked at him.

"I understand that's why I came to you first. I want to be as up front and honest as possible."

"I appreciate your honesty."

"I have no doubt that I can do my job objectively but for the sake of anyone else I am willing to step down. I can just teach. I don't have to run the program," Fitz offered.

He knew that he could run the program objectively but he didn't want anyone to come in and try to claim that he was giving Layla any special treatment because she was his daughter. He was being proactive.

"No. You are the music program."

"I just really us to work this out before anything comes up. I would hate for this to be an issue down the line."

Sally nodded. She appreciated him trying to proactive and cover all of their bases.

"Can you give me until after lunch to think about it?"

"Yeah."

"Okay. Come back around one and we can talk about our options then."

Fitz stood and left. On his way out he passed a not so happy Liz North. It was going to be hard working with her. Just then an idea came to him. He knew the perfect way to kill two kill two birds with one stone.

Fitz sat across from Elizabeth North at a local bar. This wasn't the ideal setting for the two to meet but he figured the atmosphere would loosen her up. It was clear that she didn't like him, and after talking to Sally earlier, he knew why. Fitz decided to take things into his own hands and try to clear the air the best way he could.  
Fitz watched as Elizabeth downed two shots before taking her sweater off.

Liz turned to him, "You know what I hate about you?" Fitz shook his head. He was well aware of her feelings but he wanted her to voice them.

"You come in here, this big hot shot producer and you take a position that I have been fighting for. Do you know how hard I worked to get this music program off the ground? Only for you to come in last minute and snatch it away from me."

She signaled for the bartender to come over and ordered three more shots.

"I apologize," Fitz said and she looked at him. "I wasn't aware that you were working on a trying to get the music program running before I came in."

"What it had made a difference?"

"Yes, I'm not here to step on anyone's toes. I just wanted to help kids build their love and understanding of music."

She eyed him as if she didn't believe a word her was saying.

"I talked to Sally today," he started but she quickly cut him off.

"I know. I was there before she kicked me out like I was a kid trying to sit at the adult table," it was said lightheartedly but Fitz could hear the subtle hurt in her voice.

"I told her that we should make you head of the program," he said nonchalantly.

"What?"

"To avoid a conflict of interest type situation, I told her that I think that you should run the program—"

"Why would you do that?"

"She told me about all the work you did and that the position was supposed to be yours before I came in. Like I said, I'm not trying to step on anyone's toes so I feel like since you did all the ground work, you should run it."

"What did she say?"

"She thinks that you are deserving but my experience in the business can be a real asset to the kids."

"Why even bring this up? It sounds like she made up her mind."

"I told her that I think you should be in charge and the best way was a compromise. I teach and handle all of the hands on musical stuff and you will oversee the program. You have more experience in that area than I do."

She stared at him for a long moment.

"You are making it hard to hate you."

"Thank you, I guess."

She handed him one of her shots. They touched their glasses before taking their shots. The taste of whatever she had been drinking was horrible to Fitz put her took the shot with ease.

"So what happens now?" Liz asked.

"Now we have to re-shape the program and prepare to meet the parents and students."

* * *

 **One Month Later**

Olivia walked into the huge dining hall behind Layla and Mia. The room was filled with people now compared to when they had arrived twenty minutes earlier. They were at Duke Ellington School of the Arts for a mixer to get a chance to meet with the heads of the music program. After arriving early and finding no one around, Mia had given them a tour of the school to kill time.

Olivia looked around for an open table in the crowd of students and parents.

"There is a table over there," Mia pointed in the direction of the open table.

They walked over to the table and took their seats. Layla and Mia talked while Olivia looked through the folder that was sitting in front of her. It detailed the music program and the duties of the students and parents. A few pages into the folder and Olivia heard a lady's voice over a microphone so she looked up.

"Hello all. I'm Principal Sally Langston and I would like to welcome you to the Duke Ellington School of the Arts music mixer. This mixer was put together by music board chair member Elizabeth North and Grammy award winning singer, songwriter, producer, and musician Fitzgerald Grant," Sally motioned to Elizabeth and Fitz. The crowd applauded and Sally waited for them to finish. "Liz and Fitz will be overseeing the music program together. They have provided you all with folders full of information about what exactly the new music program is and what is expect of you and your children. If you have any questions they will be around to answer them. Enjoy yourselves and mix and mingle."

Olivia sat at a table alone reading through the folder and nibbling on cheese and crackers. Layla and Mia had ditched her when Mia saw one of her friends. Everyone seemed to crowd around Fitz and since she had no plans of talking to him, she just sat there reading and people watching.

When Olivia was done reading she just watched everyone else mingle. She made small talk with the woman at the next table for a little bit as the lady tried to figure out a way to get to Fitz. Olivia listened and threw out suggestions. The woman eventually worked up enough courage to find her way through the crowd so Olivia was alone again.

Twenty minutes went by and Olivia began to look around the room to see if she spotted her daughter anywhere. As she looked for Layla and Mia in the crowd, she made eye contact with Fitz talking to a group of mothers. She quickly looked away and began digging in her bag for her phone. Olivia texted her daughter telling her that she was ready to go.

"Hi."

' _Shit_ ,' she said under her breath.

"Hey," she looked up at Fitz.

"You've been avoiding me," Fitz took a seat next to her.

"What? No, that's nonsense," she lied.

"I've been calling you. I left messages and you never got backed to me."

"I've been really swamped at work," Olivia told a half truth.

He nodded, accepting her excuse.

"I wanted to talk to you about what happened in LA."

"I don't think we need to talk about anything. Your girlfriend came by to surprise you for your birthday and we kind of ruined it," Olivia hoped he didn't think she was fishing for information with her ' _girlfriend_ ' comment.

"She is not my girlfriend."

"You did not have to tell me that," Olivia was straight faced but on the inside she was cheering.

"I wanted to clear the air, and to apologize for everything."

"There is no air to clear. You don't owe me anything. You don't have to apologize."

"Are you sure? Cause I'm getting a vibe from you."

"There is no vibe," Olivia bit the inside of her cheek in an attempt to keep her poker face on. Fitz had a very disarming charm. It was something about him that brought out a joy in her and no matter how much she tried to fight it, he was able to charm his way back into her heart.

"I see a smile somewhere in there," he looked into her eyes.

She looked away, "You know you don't have to play nice with me to deal with her daughter."

She regretted it the moment it came out. It made her sound as if she was fishing for something.

"I know," he gave her a small smile, "You know that you don't have to fight your feelings for me by trying to push me away."

She looked up at him but before she could respond, they were interrupted by the sound of Mia's voice.

"Hey Mr. Grant."

"Hey!"

And just like that he turned it back on and was engaged in conversation with Layla and Mia, leaving Olivia completely speechless.


	7. Girls Like You

**Girls Like You**

" _Girls like you remind me that I'm lonely, yeah. Remind me that I'm lonely. No one to play Connect 4 with me. I declare war with me. Knocked out and snore. From rolling around in my bed._ "—Miguel

* * *

Fitz stood in the doorway listening to Layla play the piano. He knew that she could play but he had never heard her play. Fitz was amazed as he listen to what sounded like Michael Jackson's _Lady In My Life_.

As if she could feel his presence in the room with her, she stopped playing abruptly and turned around. Looking apologetic, she stood but before she could say something Fitz spoke up.

"Why'd you stop?"

Layla shrugged. In the four months since Layla met and found out that Fitz was her father, their relationship had grown naturally. It was easy for them to be around each other because they were so similar, she found that she was even more like him than her mother. But as time progressed, Layla became less open with sharing her musical talents with him. A part of it was because of who he was. She felt so amateur singing or trying to play the piano around him. The other part was that when school started back up in the fall he would be her music teacher and with it being known that she was his daughter, she didn't want it to seem like she got special treatments from him. He would hear her sing and play piano in class, not on their father-daughter times.

"I don't think I should be playing for you considering that you'll be my music teacher in the fall. I'm sure you being my dad is already a problem for some. I don't want to further complicate things by having you listen to my music now."

Fitz gave her a small smile. It was moments like these that he was reminded that her mom was Olivia Pope. Layla had taken her brains, and her ability to overthink situations from her mother.

"Are you saying that I can't be unbiased?"

Not missing a beat and sounding very much like her mother, "I'm saying let's not even give ourselves room for you to be biased."

Fitz smiled at her response.

"Fair enough."

"Do you have any plans for the day?"

"Not really."

"You could come over for dinner and to hang out."

"I'm sure that your mother and her boyfriend wouldn't want that."

That was tacky and Fitz knew it. He was fishing and his teenage daughter knew it too.

"Smooth, very smooth," Layla laughed, "My mother doesn't have a boyfriend or a fiancé. It's just us."

Fitz thought to lie his way out of this but he knew that Layla would see right through him so he decided against it.

"And I'm sure my mom would love to have you."

"I'm sorry. That wasn't very appropriate," Fitz was silently scolding himself for fishing for information from his fifteen year old daughter. He couldn't help himself though, Olivia was in his head, all the time now. Being in the same city with her after all these years made him feel that spark that had always been there. He wanted to be in her world but she was giving him the cold shoulder.

Fitz didn't want it to seem like he was using their daughter as a way to get close to Olivia so for these last two months, he let his feelings go, or so he thought.

"Do you have a special lady in your life?" Layla's question brought him out of his thoughts.

"Besides you, no."

Layla smiled.

"So the naked lady on your birthday isn't your girlfriend?"

They hadn't spoke of that incident since coming back to DC. Fitz knew he should have expected it but he didn't.

"No, she isn't."

"Was she back then?"

"No."

"So a random hookup knows where you live? That's pretty dangerous."

Fitz wasn't ready for this conversation with her. Was there ever a time to open up about your sex life to your kid? Fitz thought not but he had opened the door to this conversation so he was going to be honest.

"She wasn't a random hookup. I worked with her and we had been together in the past."

Layla nodded.

"So she's your ex-girlfriend?"

"Not really."

"A one night stand or friends with benefits?"

"Yeah, something like that."

"Is this conversation making you uncomfortable?"

"No," he lied, "Why would you think that?"

"You have a look on your face," Layla stared at him.

"No, I'm fine," he continued to lie.

Layla nodded but decided to lay off. She felt okay with talking to him about anything because since she had met him, Fitz had always been honest with her.

"How do you feel about my mom?"

Layla didn't know why she asked that particular question at this moment but she always wondered. If you let her mom tell it, there was definitely some deep feelings there all of those years back but they were both too young and had different things going on in their lives so neither tried to see where it could go. She had never heard her dad's side and her curiosity had been sparked after they returned from their week in California. Layla remembered the two days of fun she had with her parents before the naked lady showed up at his place. Things felt different now. They both avoided each other and neither talked about the other. She had knew that something was up.

"What do you mean?" Fitz asked.

"How do you feel about her? Do you hate her because she lied to you for years? Is she the one that go away? Do think she is okay but you two just had a summer fling so there is really nothing to talk about with her? What? There is something because you guys act awkward around each other. Y'all don't talk. Both of you stay in the car when you come pick me up. It's weird. It's like you two hate each other but you're nice people so y'all won't show it."

Fitz was taken aback by her questions. He didn't think that their avoidance came off as hate. He immediately felt bad that Layla would even think that.

"I don't hate your mother. I was upset at first because I wish I had known about you sooner but I don't hate her. It was a very impossible situation for her to be in and I understand that."

"Do you think she is the one who got away?"

Fitz didn't know how to answer that. In the four and a half months since Olivia was brought back into his life, Fitz felt himself being pulled into her orbit. He just wanted to be around her but she avoided him so he did the same and focused on his relationship with his daughter. He didn't know how to explain his feelings.

Layla stared at him as she waited for him to answer. When he didn't, the silence in the room became awkward.

"That is a very impressive stare down you have going on."

"I'm waiting for you to answer the question."

"I don't know how to answer the question."

"We always start with the truth," she reminded him.

"That is the truth. I don't know how to answer that question."

"Do you want to know what I think?"

"Sure," Fitz crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall prepared to hear what she thought.

"I think that there is feelings there but both of you are very unsure of yourself in regard to the place where you stand in each other's lives. Knowing my mother, I think she feels guilty for keeping us apart for so long. She has the tendency to let guilt make her withdraw. If she feels like she is the problem, she will totally disassociate herself from a situation as a way of getting rid of the problem. It is the fixer in her and she is not immune to her brand of problem solving."

Fitz was completely in awe listening to her speak. He had to remember that at fifteen she was a young woman and able to process things as such. Hell, she was processing this situation better than him.

"I haven't known you for a long time but I've followed you over the years and now having you in my life, I can attest to the good person that you are," Layla continued, "I think that you are a very good person who doesn't want to make anyone uncomfortable so you shy away from fully expressing yourself. You seem like the type to take a backseat to other people's happiness. If you were feeling something with my mother, you wouldn't act first because you are unaware of her true feelings and that makes you unsure of yourself."

"How old are you again?"

Layla laughed.

"I take pride in being very mature for my age," she paused before saying, "Sorry. I can be very straightforward at times."

"No," Fitz waved her off, "I loved hearing what you had to say. Very astute."

"It would be nice if you guys hung out more. I wouldn't have to pick between who I wanted to spend my time with. We could just all spend time together."

"Have you told your mother this?"

She shook her head, "I've been thinking about it but I never said anything. Since you asked if my mom had a boyfriend-"

"I didn't-"

"You did. We both know that you did," she said calmly cutting him off, "I think it is a good thing."

"You do?"

Layla nodded.

"I never seen anyone have the effect on my mom that you have. You take her out of the zone. It's different, she's different around you or when I talk to her about you."

Fitz stared at her for a long moment, taking in everything that she was saying.

"I think you should talk to her. If not for yourself, do it for me. I would love to spend time with you both together."

"You're pulling the daughter card?"

"I am. It is either play the daughter card nicely or lay of full guilt trip."

Fitz laughed, "You're wise beyond your years."

Layla looked down. She wondered if she should mention something that had been bothering her or just leave it alone. When she looked back up, Fitz was staring at her.

"I'm not a baby," she blurted out.

Layla could tell that the moment shifted.

"I know," Fitz said seriously.

"Sometimes you treat me like I'm eight," Layla paused to see how he was taking this. He didn't look confused or hurt so she continued, "It's not a bad thing and I get it. You missed the younger years so you very easy with me and I appreciate it. But it is weird because I feel like you think that I don't understand a lot of things that I do understand."

"I apologize for that," he said sincerely, "As I was listening to you talk, I was just thinking about how you were a mature young woman and not some little kid."

"I'm glad we could have this talk," she said lightening the mood.

"So you think I should talk to your mother?"

"I think you should surprise her with dinner tonight."

"I feel like you have had this on your mind for a while."

"If I wait for you guys to make a move, you might sit in the same row at my wedding."

"I don't think we are that bad."

"Yeah, okay," she said unconvinced. "We're going to need to go to the market."

"For what?"

"We're cooking for my mother."

If Fitz didn't know any better, he would think that he was being set up. _That wasn't what was happening. Or was it?_

* * *

"I hate him," Rochelle's voice came through Olivia's car speaker.

"You don't hate him."

"I wish he was dead. I hate him so much that I want him dead and in hell."

Olivia let her rant about her ex-husband. When Rochelle paused to take a breath, Olivia finally got to jump in the conversation.

"What happened?"

"He is taking his son to Disney world the same time that we are supposed to be visiting you. He mentioned it to Riley and she is upset."

"Why would he mention it to her?"

"Because he is a jackass. Of course she wants to go to Disney world but he won't pay for a ticket. I offered to pay but he would have to change his flight and he doesn't want to do that. Now my daughter thinks I want to keep her away from her dad since I had to be the one to tell her that she couldn't go."

"Wow. I'm so sorry you're going through this."

"I hate him so much. He does things like I wronged him. Like I'm the one who cheated and broke up our family. Here I am with an emotional eight year old who just doesn't understand how fucked up grownups can be."

Olivia hated the pain she heard in her cousin's voice. Rochelle was always so strong, stronger than her even. Rochelle was a free spirit but all business. She was the perfect mix of strength and being able to be vulnerable. Rochelle always managed to stay optimistic but today, Olivia heard brokenness in her voice.

"I'm so tired, Olivia. I'm tired of him hurting my daughter. She doesn't deserve this."

"Do you want me to try to talk to him? You know I have done work as a mediator. I can be objective."

"I want him dead."

"Stop saying that. As a lawyer, I have to advise you not to say that out loud. If ever something happened to him people would think that you did something to him."

"I don't give two shits what people think."

"I can talk to him."

"I can't ask you to do that. I wouldn't ask you to do that because he is an asshole and I hate him."

"You're not asking. I actually want to talk to him."

"That doesn't sound good. You want to have a normal talk with or one of your Olivia Pope talks?"

"Does it matter?"

"Not really."

"I'll talk to him," Olivia pulled into her driveway. "I need for you to calm down. I know you are pissed and you have every right to be but you can't let him win. He doesn't get to dictate your feelings. You're an amazing mother and although it is tough now, it won't always be like this. Riley will see her father for who he really is when she is older. But for now, this is a rough patch that you unfortunately have to go through."

There was silence on the phone. Olivia could see her cousin's face, she knew that she was rolling her eyes.

"I'm at home now so I'll have to call you back once I get inside."

"I want lots of alcohol tomorrow."

"I got you."

"Do you think it makes me a bad mom if I drop the kids with uncle Eli for the night? I want to lose myself in a bottle."

"Take a bubble bath and drink a glass of wine. You'll be fine."

Olivia grabbed her purse as ended her call. She got out of the car and walked up to her door. The minute she entered the house, Olivia was hit with the smell of food. She heard Layla laughing in the kitchen and walked towards the sound.

Fitz spotted her first. He watched her as stood in the doorway momentarily shocked by his presence in her home. Fitz didn't call attention to Olivia standing there. He went about his business of washing the last of the dishes that he had dirtied while cooking.

Olivia lost track of time as she stood frozen in the doorway to her kitchen. She was not expecting to see Fitz in her home, cooking dinner with their daughter. Before she could move to leave the doorway, Layla spotted her.

"Hey mom."

"Hey," Olivia slowly walked into the kitchen. "What's going on?"

"I thought we could spend some time together as a family so I invited dad over for dinner," Layla looked over at Fitz, "Since you were working late, we went to the market and he cooked," she said proudly.

Olivia smiled at Layla's enthusiasm.

"Wow. This is a nice surprise," Olivia was caught off guard by him not only being in her home but cooking dinner.

Olivia excused herself from the room and went to change out of her work clothes.

"I think she took that well," Layla said when Olivia was out of the room.

"All things considered, I do too."

* * *

Fitz couldn't stop staring at Olivia, all through dinner and even now as he sat across from her at the kitchen table. Fitz could not keep his eyes off of her. She had went upstairs to change out of her work clothes and came down stairs looking simply amazing in just sweats and a t-shirt. Her hair was wet from her shower and pulled up into a high curly bun. Her face glowed even without makeup on. Fitz thought she was so beautiful.

As Olivia sat across from Fitz at her kitchen table, it became clear what Layla was trying to do inviting Fitz over for dinner. Layla had left the two alone in the kitchen after dinner. She had said she was going to the bathroom but ten minutes had passed and Layla hadn't returned. She wanted them to talk and Olivia knew that they should, she really had no reason not to talk to him.

"She thinks that we hate each other," Fitz said breaking their silence.

"Why does she think that?"

"Because you go out of your way to avoid me and I follow suit."

"I don't–"

"You do, and for life of me, I can't figure out why. Did you change so much in the last fifteen years that I now disgust you or something?"

"No," Olivia quickly answered, shaking her head, "Its…its um…," Olivia suddenly couldn't speak. Fitz waited for her to say something. Olivia downed the rest of her wine before setting the glass down and giving her full attention to Fitz.

"I fell in love with you years ago and it was the scariest thing to ever happen to me. In a small span of time, I fell for you and it was irrational and unplanned. It felt like a lie because I don't know you. I never got the chance to know you. How can you love someone you don't know?"

"You get to know them," Fitz said simply.

Olivia gave him a small smile before continuing, "I have been acting on fear since the day that I met you. Fear that I was reading too much into us hanging out, fear that you didn't feel the same way as me, fear of rejection, fear that you would hate me. To simplify it, Fitz, you scare me."

"I'm harmless," he said full of boyish charm.

Olivia hated that he made her feel like a schoolgirl. She hated that he brought down whatever defenses she tried to put up with ease.

"I could never hate you."

His words were reassuring to her. She felt like a weight has been lifted from her shoulders.

"I waited for you," his voice was low but loud enough for her to hear him. She looked over at him and he continued, "I beat myself up for a year for not getting your number or just having the courage to walk across the lake and ask your mother about you. But I remembered that you said you to visit your mom every summer so I waited. I practiced what I would say to you for months and I planned on getting it right that time but you never came back."

Olivia felt a rush of emotion hit her all at once. She couldn't quite pin down what she was feeling but her chest felt warm and her hands dropped to her lap.

"I felt this connection with you from the first time that I met you. I fell in love with you too. I didn't feel like I stood a chance with you. I was just happy for the time we had together, the time that you gave me because you were way out of my league."

"You think too highly of me."

"You were the best thing that ever happened to me."

Olivia stared at him not sure what she should say to that.

"I wouldn't be the man I am today if it hadn't been for you."

"I don't believe that."

"It's true. You put a lot of things in perspective for me. You motivated me to step outside of my comfort zone and actually pursue my music."

"You helped me to learn to throw caution to the wind. I never felt more alive than I did that summer."

They fell into a comfortable silence. Olivia looked down at her watch. It had been twenty minutes since Layla left them.

"Layla mentioned all three of us spending time together because she feels like she has to pick between us a lot of times."

"I feel match making vibes from this whole night," Olivia looked down at her watch, "She has been in the bathroom for twenty three minutes now."

"I might be the reason for this. I might have been fishing for answers poorly."

"What did you say?"

"She invited me over for dinner and I said ' _I'm sure that your mother and her boyfriend wouldn't want that._ ' "

Olivia snorted and covered her mouth trying to stifle her laugh. She didn't know why she found his inquiry into her dating life funny but it tickled her.

"It was not my finest work."

"I think we can work out spending more time together."

"I think Layla would really like that."

Olivia hated that she was blushing but she took solace in lopsided grin. He felt the same way she did. It was new and confusing but at least this go around they had time on their side.

* * *

Olivia sat in her car outside of the train station searching the crowd for her cousin. With their busy schedules and raising kids, Rochelle and Olivia never really got to spend time together so every summer Rochelle and Olivia would play hostess for each other for two weeks. This year Rochelle and her daughters were coming to stay with Olivia for two weeks.

Olivia took out her phone and texted her cousin.

 **Liv:** _Did you get lost?_

 **Shelly:** _Of course not. This is not my first time here._

 **Liv:** _I've been out here for waiting for 10 minutes._

 **Shelly:** _If you have somewhere else to go you can leave._

 **Liv:** _Your text has a tone._

 **Shelly:** _*rolls eyes*…Raquel had a grown woman situation._

 **Liv:** _Oh. Got it. Take your time._

 **Shelly:** _Thank you, your highness! I am so grateful for your permission to take my time….How is that for tone?_

Olivia sent a middle finger emoji as a response and threw her phone in the cup holder. Moments later she received a text message notification. She thought it was Rochelle responding but was surprised to see ' _Don't go down this road_ ' flash across the screen. The screen went black and then quickly lit up again when another text message came through.

' _I should really change his name in my phone_ ', Olivia thought as she punched in the code on her phone and went to her text messages.

 **Don't go down this road:** _What's your favorite board game?_

 **Don't go down this road:** _Wait, do people still play board games?_

Olivia smiled reading his text.

 **Livvie:** _Monopoly. And I guess somewhere in the world lots of people still play board games. A lot of stuff is digital now so…_

 **Don't go down this road:** _I'm in target and I had this bright idea for game night. What better way to bond and reconnect with someone than to bring out their competitive side?_

 **Livvie:** _You're not ready for my competitive side._

 **Don't go down this road:** _I love a challenge ;)_

"Who has you smiling so hard?"

Olivia's hand slipped out of her hand and she grabbed her chest.

"You scared the shit out of me," Olivia glared at Rochelle's smiling face.

Olivia hit a button and popped the trunk so that they could put their bags in the back. She reached for phone on the floor.

 **Don't go down this road:** _Game suggestions?_

 **Livvie:** _Monopoly, Uno, Jenga, Layla loves Scrabble. I refuse to play the game with her._

 **Don't go down this road:** _She's that good?_

 **Livvie:** _Let's just say that the movie Akeelah and the Bee had a lasting effect on her._

 **Don't go down this road:** _Haha. Noted._

Olivia locked her phone and threw it in the cup holder as she heard her car door opening.

"How was the train ride?" Olivia asked after greeting everyone.

"The devil is river dancing inside of my body. Death is near," Raquel said.

Olivia never heard anyone describe menstrual cramps in that way but was inclined to agree with the teenager.

Riley rolled her eyes at what she assumed was her older sister being dramatic again.

"How was the train ride for you, Riley?"

"It wasn't Disney world," she tried to say lowly but everyone in the car heard her.

"Okay," Olivia said giving up on conversation all together as she started the car, pulling off into traffic.

"Can we stop at the CVS? I have to pick up a few things for Rocky."

"Sure."

If this car ride was any indication of how the next two weeks were going to go, Olivia wasn't sure she was ready for her family to stay.

* * *

Layla knocked on the open guest bedroom door to alert Rochelle that she was there.

"Hey," Rochelle looked up at her briefly as she put her clothes away.

"My mom wanted to know if you guys wanted takeout or did you want actually go somewhere for dinner tonight?"

"It doesn't matter. Whichever is easiest for her."

"Okay," Layla walked out of the door and then back tracked, "I may have overheard a conversation you had with my mom earlier."

Rochelle looked at her.

"The part about Riley and her dad."

"Oh. Okay," Rochelle wasn't sure with this was going.

"I was thinking that I could talk to Riley if wanted me to. Maybe listening to someone closer to her age would help her through whatever is going on. I didn't grow up with a dad and I'm not screwed up or anything. I also know that when my mom tried to talk to me about it I wasn't open to listening to her. I had to listen to other people talk to me before I was able to accept what my mom was telling me."

Rochelle stared at her for a moment. She was so much like her mother that it blew Rochelle's mind at times.

"I would like that," Rochelle said, "She's just having a tough time because she doesn't always get to see her dad when she wants to since the divorce."

Layla nodded, "Okay. I totally got it."

Layla left the room and Rochelle putting her things away. After she was done putting her stuff away she left the room in search of her cousin. She found Olivia sitting in the living room watching the news with the volume slightly lowered.

"Do you ever watch anything besides the news?" Rochelle asked as she took a seat next to Olivia.

"It doesn't feel like it," Olivia turned off the TV, "I did recently watch all of Parks and Recreation but I didn't finish the last episode. And I got through The Mindy Project."

"You didn't have to turn off the TV on my account."

"No, it's fine. I was cheating anyway. I said no work at least for the first two days that you're here but I can't help it. Any idle time I always think of something I could be doing work wise."

"You've turned into a workaholic."

"I have," Olivia nodded, "Did you get settled okay? Do you need anything?"

"No. I'm fine. Where's everyone?"

"Raquel is upstairs napping. I gave her a heating pad and pain pills. Layla and Riley went for frozen yogurt."

"I can't believe my daughter got her period. I'm not ready for my baby to be that grown up. How did you deal when Layla became a woman?"

"I cried, not in front of her but I cried a lot. She was only twelve. We talked through it. I want to my dad because he went through it with me and then I got over it. It is a part of life."

"I know," Rochelle sighed, "I need a drink."

"Are you just saying that as an expression or do you really want a drink."

"No, it's a need. Not a want. I have a mighty need for a drink."

"Let's get you a drink then," Olivia stood up and Rochelle followed her into the kitchen so she could pour them a glass of wine.

"I really needed this trip," Rochelle says after her first sip of wine, "I don't know if it was New York itself or my home but if felt suffocating. I think I was drowning in stress."

"I'm so sorry that you're going through this."

"I wonder if I drove him to cheat."

Rochelle couldn't help herself from saying the question out loud. Her ex was on her mind all the time and not in a good way.

"You didn't."

"I wasn't a good wife. I wasn't madly in love with him. I loved him. I could have spent the rest of my life with him but I wasn't in love with him. I wonder if he could tell and went looking for the love elsewhere," she thought out loud, speaking absentmindedly.

"I don't think that you were a terrible wife. Even if you weren't madly in love with him, you didn't hate him. You weren't cruel to him. I have seen terrible wives. You didn't make him cheat either."

"I was relieved when I found out she was pregnant. It gave me my out. I would have forgiven him because he was a good guy. He was my safe guy. But her being pregnant gave me my out. I couldn't be with someone who had two families. Even if he didn't love her, he had a kid with her so she was family."

"Do you regret your choice to leave?"

"No. I just feel like a shitty mom because my daughter is suffering because he is mad at me."

"Have you tried talking to him?"

"It is hard because I hate him for hurting my daughter. I can't stand to look at him."

"You have to try to talk to him. As adults and parents, you need to tell him how his actions are affecting the children and if somehow you guys can't come to a reasonable solution, then you should talk to a mediator. I know some good ones in New York."

Rochelle nodded, she knew Olivia was right, she had to try to talk to her ex but she felt the familiar pounding in her head starting whenever she talked about her ex-husband. Taking another sip of her drink, Rochelle attempted to move on from talking about her ex.

"Layla overheard us talking and she offered to talk to Riley. She is so much like you. Always wanting to help and fix people's problems."

Olivia smiled. She really felt like she got it right with her daughter.

"How's work going?" Olivia asked steering the conversation completely away from exes and kids.

"Work is great. I'm adjusting to my new position-"

"What new position?"

"Oh, I didn't tell you?"

Olivia shook her head, taking a sip from her glass.

"I was promoted to manager last month."

"Oh my God! That's amazing."  
"Yeah, it is. I've just been so busy with the kids that I haven't had the time to celebrate it," Rochelle said excitedly. "I'm now in charge of the whole art department. I handle most of the day to day stuff, overseeing projects. Everyone reports to me and I report to the art director."

Seeing Rochelle's excitement made Olivia smile.  
"I'm happy for you."

"I'm happy for me," she took another sip of her wine. "Thank you for this."

"The wine?"

"No. Just for being the person I unload all of my crap on and having a place for me to get away for a while. I really need these two weeks."

"We're family. You're like my sister so of course I am going to always be here. Or if you need me in New York, I'll be there."

Rochelle hugged her.

"Before I leave this city, I'm going to need you to take me about because I'm trying to get laid."

"Shelly."

"I'm serious. What better stress reliever is there than some dick?"

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Olivia said ignoring her last state as she walked out of the kitchen.

* * *

"Do you like it?" Layla asked as she sat at across from her little cousin watching her eat her frozen yogurt.

Riley looked up at her and nodded, smiling.

"I always come here when I'm upset or mad. It's kinda like my happy place away from home."

"Are you mad right now?"

"No. I just heard about you and your dad and I thought some frozen yogurt would cheer you up because it always cheers me up."

"My dad is going to Disney world and I really wanted to go but my mom wouldn't let me. I like it here with you and Liv but we do this every year and I only stayed one weekend in the past few months."

"And it's Disney world! Who wouldn't want to go to Disney world?"

"That too," Riley giggled.

"I don't think that your mom wouldn't let you go."

"She didn't. My dad said I would have to ask her if I wanted to go. I asked her and I'm here now. She didn't let me go."

"I'm sure it is more complicated than that."

"It's not. My mom hates my dad and she wants me to hate him too."

"You know I didn't grow up with a dad right?"

Riley nodded.

"Do you know why?"

"He died?" Riley took a guess.

"No," Layla shook her head, "I grew up without a dad because my mom had me when she was really young and she lived really far away from my dad. Because they lived so far away, she never got to tell him about me."

"Your dad doesn't know about you?"

"He didn't until recently. I went to a singing audition and ended up singing in front of my dad."

"Whoa."

"When I found out I was so angry at my mom. I was angry because I didn't get to have 'normal' childhood with two parents like everyone else. I was angry because she kept my dad and I apart for years. I blamed her. I was mad at her. I didn't talk to my mom."

"And then what happened?"

"I talked to Edison and my dad and I took a step back and put myself in her shoes. I don't think I would have done the same thing as she did but I understand why she did what she did now. Riley, you have to understand that parents are just human. They make mistakes. They have bad judgment. They don't always know the right thing to say or the right thing to do but they love you enough to try."

"Things are different now. My dad and I use to be really close. We use to cook dinner three times a week. He would let me read him bedtime stories because I loved to read. Every Saturday we had daddy-daughter movie day. It was fun and then everything changed. He didn't come home one night and that turned into a week and just never came back. He has a son now and I'm no longer his baby."

"Sometimes change can be good. Different is good. It took a while for me to adjust to having two parents around."

"But that is good change. You have a dad now. I don't see how this is the same."

"You still have a dad. When I didn't know who my dad was, I still had a dad. Our situations are similar because we both had to adjust to change. Things are different now, maybe even bad for you but it is not going to be like this forever. No matter what is going on in their lives both your mom and dad care about you very much and they just need time to figure it out because they're not perfect."

Riley nodded and Layla hoped she was making some form of sense to the little girl.

"Do you like having a dad now?"

"Yeah but things are pretty much the same. I had to get over my initials nerves and fear of change but now things great. I just have one extra person who loves me added to my life."

"How often do you see him?"

"At least twice a week."

"When do I get to meet him?"

"Do you want to meet him?"

Riley nodded.

"We can go see him when we're done here."

"Thank you for the frozen yogurt."

"It's no problem."

"I really do like it here with you and Liv. And know that my mommy means well but my dad always made me feel special. And I just miss that a lot. We talk on the phone a lot but he never calls me, I have to call him."

"He is adjusting as well and figuring it out. It is going to take some time but he'll come around."

* * *

"Are you going to come join me," a voice called from his pool.

"Nope."

"What do you mean ' _nope_ '? Come here."

"I'm not getting in the pool, Mel."

Fitz watched as Mellie got out of the pool and walked over to him. She took a seat in his lap, not caring that she was getting his clothes wet.

"I hate it when you say no to me."

"You hate it when anyone says no to you."

"This is true. And yet you're still saying no to me."

Fitz stared at her. She was crossing the line of flirting with him and trying to seduce him, neither of which were working.

"Are you going to get up? You've already have my clothes all wet."

"All the more reason for you to get in the pool with me."

"I'm fine right here."

"You act so strange since you decided to move to DC," Mellie said as she stood up, "Is it living around all of the politicians or her that changed you?"

"I haven't changed at all."

"You have. You're very cold and distant towards me."

"How am I cold and distant and let you stay in my house?"

"You were originally trying to kick me out."

"Because I know your game."

"You're weak to my advances."

"Games. You play too many games. One of which is flying all the way across the country to bring me papers when you could have faxed them to me or scanned them into a pdf file and emailed them to me."

"I told you I'm visiting a friend in Virginia."

"And you just decided to make a pit stop here? It's almost a three hour drive from your original destination," Fitz tone was lighthearted. Fitz didn't want to seem cold but he was serious. There was no reason for Mellie to make a stop at his house on her way to Virginia but yet here she was.

He had cursed himself for not telling her to call a cab the night before but it was late so he let her spend the night in one of his guest bedrooms. Fitz didn't want her getting any ideas and judging by the way she acted all morning, it was too late. The wheels had been turning and somewhere in that scheming brain of hers there was in motion. Fitz didn't know what it was but he was wise to Mellie's ways.

"Well excuse me for being extra thorough about my work using my time to wisely catch up with a friend who acts brand new," Mellie's voice disrupted his thoughts.

"You're always showing up at the most random times."

"I will be out of your hair in few so chill," Mellie grabbed her towel, "You're going to drive me to the car rental place right?"

Fitz nodded, taking a sip of his beer.

"You're such a doll," she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek, "You will miss me when I'm gone."

"You never give me a chance to miss you because you're always around."

Mellie wrapped towel around her and walked into the house. It wasn't even two minutes later when he heard her calling his name. Fitz sighed and got up to see what she wanted.

"You have visitors," Mellie said before stepping aside so Fitz could see Layla and another little girl standing on the porch.

Mellie walked upstairs and Fitz went to the door.

"Hey! This is a surprise."

"It is for both of us," Layla said with a clear attitude in her voice, "We were in the neighborhood and my little cousin wanted to meet you but clearly you're busy with company so we're going to go."

"No. You don't have to go. Come in."

Fitz felt like he was experiencing deja vu. This had happened before exactly like this. Mellie had showed up and it resulted in Olivia leaving with Layla and this time it was Layla leaving with her younger cousin.

"Come on, Riley," Layla walked off without saying another word to him.

"I can give you a ride home."

"We're fine."

"Layla, wait."

When Fitz realized that she wasn't going to wait he sprinted after them.

"I know that having a dad is new for you but you're supposed to listen to him," Riley said as she tried to keep up with Layla

Layla had forgotten that she was even there until she heard her voice. She looked down at her. This was probably not the best example to be setting for her little cousin but she was mad because clearly her dad had lied to her. The same lady who showed up with no clothes on at his place in LA was now answering his the door in just a towel. When she saw his wet clothes, her annoyance transformed into angry. She couldn't tell who she was madder at, him for lying to her or herself for believing that somehow with her dad now around she might have had a family.

Fitz grabbed Layla's arm, stopping her from taking another step. The cold look that she gave him after she looked at her arm and his hand could freeze hell.

"You don't have to leave but if you want to leave, I insist on giving you a ride home."

"I don't want to interrupt your time with your girlfriend."

"She is not my girlfriend."

"Is she your wife?"

Fitz looked at the little girl besides his daughter.

"No. Just a friend."

Both Layla and Riley looked at him like they didn't believe him. After what felt like an eternity of silence, Riley finally spoke, "I don't know about her but I really would like a ride to her house."

Fitz stared at Layla waiting for her to say something but she didn't budge.

"If you're going to take us home, you should get your car because this could take a while," Riley said looking between both Fitz and Layla.

"Promise you won't leave."

"We won't," Riley said speaking for both of them.

As Layla watched him walk away she thought about why she was mad. Although she felt like he lied to her, she had no right to be this mad at him. It was his personal life, she couldn't be mad at him for having a personal life.

"Come on," Layla sighed as she started walking back to her father's house.

By the time that they made it back to his front door Fitz was coming out of the door.

"If the offer still stands, we'll stay for a little bit," Layla said.

"Okay," Fitz couldn't contain his smile as he stepped aside and let the girls in.


	8. Rather Be

**Rather Be**

" _We staked out on a mission to find our inner peace. Make it everlasting so nothing's incomplete. It's easy being with you, sacred simplicity. As long as we're together, there's no place I'd rather be. If you gave me a chance I would take it. It's a shot in the dark, but I'll make it. Know with all of your heart, you can't shame me._ "—Seinabo Sey(cover)

* * *

Layla knew that it wasn't polite to stare but she didn't care. She stared at Mellie, intentionally trying to make her uncomfortable. She didn't know this woman but she didn't like her. Something about her screamed manipulative.

Layla wondered what her dad saw in her because from where she was sitting there was nothing special about the woman.

Mellie looked around for Fitz but he was nowhere around.

"Where's your dad?"

"He's around," Layla stared at her, "Who are you?"

"Mellie. I'm a friend of your dad."

"Do you always get naked for your friends?"

Mellie stared at her.

"First time I saw you exposed yourself to me. You do know that is a sex crime right? Indecent exposure, I think is what they call it."

"That is not how it works."

"Endangering the welfare of a minor."

"It wasn't that either."

"You have a law degree?"

"I do. I'm actually an attorney."

"My mother has a law degree. I guess my dad has a type."

Mellie stared at Layla. She did not like this little girl. She had a smugness about her and she was trying to challenge her.

Fitz walked into the living room with Riley following behind him. Fitz could feel the tension in the room. Layla glared at Mellie and Mellie looked at him as if she was waiting for him to say something about the stare down but he didn't. What could he say? He probably would have done the same thing if his father had brought another woman home after his mother's passing.

"Are you almost ready to leave? I'll take you to the car rental place when I take them home."

"I can be ready in fifteen minutes."

Mellie left the room without saying another word.

When Fitz was sure that Mellie was out of earshot he had to ask, "What'd you do to her?"

His tone wasn't accusatory or scolding, just inquisitive. By Layla's demeanor he could tell she was unfazed by his question. He could tell that she was the type to become a firecracker when she was mad. He wondered if that was something she picked up from him or her mother. He had the tendency to be his most venomous when he was angry. Fitz was unsure about Olivia in that regard because he had never seen her angry.

"Nothing. I just asked who she was and she said a friend. Then I asked her if she got naked for all of her friends?" Layla said nonchalantly.

Yep. That was definitely him. Unapologetic and daring anyone to challenge her.

Riley looked from Layla to Fitz and back. Fitz could tell that she wasn't use to seeing Layla, or any child speak out against an adult. Riley looked around the room as if she was waiting for something else to happen, when Fitz took his seat, Riley did the same, settling next to Layla.

After a few minutes of silence, Layla finally spoke up.

"I don't see what you see in her."

"I don't see anything. We work together. That's it."

"But you were together at one point."

"No."

"There are many ways to be together outside of an actual relationship."

And there she was, his mature, wise beyond her years teenage daughter. He was learning that he couldn't get out of answering her questions. He couldn't bullshit with her. She always wanted the truth.

"She was safe. At a time when my career was just starting out she was there, she knew the business, we had a great work relationship, she was successful so I didn't have to worry about her having ulterior motives. She was safe. We were friends and things happened. As I got more comfortable in myself, I noticed just how different we were and that we wanted different things in life so nothing ever happened pass us being friends."

"I don't think she got the memo. She wants you."

"I know."

"If you know then stop stringing her along."

"I'm not–"

"When you allow her to be around you in intimate settings, that is giving her hope that it is something more."

Hearing the words from Layla made everything seem so simple. Fitz wasn't attempting to string her along but clearly something he was doing wasn't working. He was going to have to approach things in a different way. He had Layla and Olivia to think about from now on.

* * *

Olivia heard her daughter's voice announcing that they were back. She turned around expecting Layla to talk into the room any moment now. When Fitz walked in instead, Olivia was momentarily caught off guard but she couldn't be surprised. It seemed like this was going to be a constant thing now. Fitz was in her world. They shared a kid together, she just had to get use to him being around.

"Hi," Fitz said.

With just one word from him, Olivia could feel her heart beating against her chest rapidly. She wondered when this would stop. When would he be able to walk into a room and her heart didn't betray her?

"Hi," she smiled at him, "Did you need something?"

"No. I just…," Fitz didn't know what he was doing. He should have stayed in the car but whenever he was near her, something in him gravitated towards her.

"Layla is very astute."

"She is," Olivia smiled just thinking about her daughter. With all her accomplishments in life, Layla was by far the best. Olivia watching the young woman her daughter was growing up to be.

"She really has a way of looking at you like you ain't shit and you never gone be shit."

Olivia laughed.

"I'm serious. She has a death glare on her. And if she gives you the look then you know you have fucked up."

"I don't know where she gets that from," her tone was light and playful. He could tell that the death stare was inherited from Olivia.

Fitz felt like he should tell her about the Mellie thing. He felt something there, between himself and Olivia. He didn't know what it was or if it would ever be something but he didn't want to take any chances. He was going to be as honest as possible.

"I had a friend that stayed over last night. She came in late on her way to the Hamptons so she just crashed in the guest bedroom. She was their when Layla came and she didn't take too well to it."

In a matter of seconds Fitz saw exactly where Layla got the piercing stare from. It only lasted a few seconds before Olivia went back into herself. It was something that he noticed she was able to do, to quickly turn off her emotions.

"Why are you telling me this?"

There was no playfulness or anger in her tone. There was nothing actually and that left Fitz more intrigued than after. He wondered what happened to her that made her life that. How was she able to just turn herself off like that?

"Transparency, I guess. I'm not trying to hide anything from you."

Olivia appreciated his honesty. She didn't know why she was slightly annoyed. She had told herself that she wasn't going down this road with him. So what they had shared dinner and admitted that they both loved each other in the past. It meant nothing because the past was the past.

"She is always going to speak her mind. Even if you don't want to hear it, she is going to tell you how she feels. She doesn't bite her tongue for anyone. She is not rude about it, she will apologize after but she just has to get it out. If she is pissed at you, that's another story," Olivia thought about the arguments she and Layla had after she told her that Fitz was her father.

"You just have to be ready toe to toe with her and be strong in your position. I always wanted her to feel like she had a voice to use so she uses it, a lot more since she has become a teenager though. It's hard to explain but she is really passionate about what she is passionate about and very mellow the rest of the time."

Fitz smiled at her.

"She sounds like the perfect mix of both of us."

"She is," Olivia returned his smile.

Fitz cell phone started to ring. He took it out of his pocket and looked at the caller id.

"One second," he said to Olivia before answering the phone, "Hey man. What's up?"

"Are you in New York or DC?"

The sound of his best friend Derek's frantic voice made Fitz immediately worry.

"DC. Why? What's wrong?"

"I'm about to get on a flight and I need somewhere to stay," Derek ignored his last question.

"Is everything alright?"

"No. Everything's not alright. Everything is completely fucked up."

"What's wrong?"

"I don't really want to talk about it over the phone," Derek must have realized how that sounded because he quickly added, "Don't worry yourself. It's not a life or death situation. I just called off my wedding."

"What? Why?"

"I'm on an overnight flight. I probably be there early in the morning."

Derek didn't want to discuss what had happened and Fitz was just going to respect that.

"Okay. Call me and I can pick you up."

Fitz hung up the phone and when he turned around he almost bumped into Rochelle.

"Didn't mean to sneak up on you. I was just walking pass."

Fitz stepped aside to let her pass.

"Is everything alright?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"Are you staying for dinner?" Rochelle asked. "We haven't really decided what we are having yet but you're more than welcome to join us. That is if you don't mind being around a bunch of girls."

"Girls don't bother me none," he followed her back into the kitchen.

"Fitz is staying for dinner," Rochelle announced.

"Did he say that or did you decide for him?" Olivia asked because she knew her cousin. She was giving Fitz a way out.

"He didn't correct me," Rochelle said, "Besides, I want to pick his brain."

"Shelly–"

"It's fine," Fitz interjected, "We're in the getting to know you phase of meeting the family. Questions are to be expected."

It was when he said things like that, that confused Olivia the most. How was she supposed to take it? Was it innocent because he was in fact meeting majority of her family for the first time? Or did his words have an underlying meaning? They had both admitted their feelings to one another, more or less what they felt years ago. He had admitted to fishing for information about her relationship status. And today he had come in wanting to be transparent with her.

Both of them were very much single. Olivia knew that there was a possibility of something happening between them, she just hadn't figured out if it was something that she wanted or not.

* * *

Fitz was up early. He had originally been waiting for Derek to call him so that he could go pick him up but Derek had found his way there. After unpacking, Derek had opted to take a nap after his long flight. Fitz really wanted to know what happened to make his friend call off his wedding but he decided not to push him on the subject.

Fitz spent most of the morning doing busy work to pass the time. After breakfast he worked on a few tracks he was producing, rearranged his bookshelf, cleaned his downstairs, and was now settled in his living room trying to find something to watch on TV.

Fitz had settled on an episode of Law & Order: SVU, since that always seemed to be on

 **Livvie:** _What are your plans for this week?_

 **Livvie:** _I was just asking because Rochelle and I are thinking about taking the girls to an amusement park and it would be great if you could join us._

 **Livvie:** _Riley really likes you._

Fitz smiled the series of text messages that came one after another. He could just picture her attempting to clarify her request so that it wasn't taken the wrong way.

 **Fitz:** _Riley likes me or you need someone to ride the big roller coasters with you?_

Fitz remembered her fear of heights and felt it was the safest way to flirt with her without appearing to flirt with her.

 **Livvie:** _Haha. Both._

 **Fitz:** _I would love to come. Just tell me when and where and I will be there._

 **Livvie:** _Great. I'll text you when we settle on a date. It will probably be Saturday though._

Fitz wasn't ready for the conversation to end. He was thinking about how to respond when he got momentarily distracted by Derek walking into the room.

"Good afternoon," Fitz said after checking the time on his phone.

Derek mumbled something that Fitz couldn't make out. Fitz didn't ask him to repeat whatever it was that he said.

"There is food in there if you are hungry," Fitz was already back to thinking about his text back to Olivia.

"I'm not hungry," he quickly said.

The tone of Derek's voice made Fitz looked up. Instantly, Fitz was very aware of his friend. He remembered that the reason he was here was because he called off his wedding. Fitz wanted answers to what was going on with his best friend.

"Are you going to tell me what happened?"

"I told you I called off my wedding."

"Why?"

"She cheated on me."

Fitz was shocked. Derek's fiancée Nicole was the epitome of a good girl. She was actually a prude or so he thought.

"Are you sure?" Fitz asked not believing him.

"She told me. We were sitting in our last premarital counseling class and she just admitted it. She said that she didn't want to go into our marriage with lies so she told me."

"I don't think it is the end of the world—"

"Cole might not be my son," Derek cut him off.

' _Oh shit_ ,' Fitz thought, ' _Yeah, that's a deal breaker_.'

"What?"

"Nicole cheated on me around the time that she got pregnant. She never planned on telling me because she didn't want to hurt me but after going through premarital counseling she knew going into a marriage with a lie over our heads wouldn't make set us up for a long lasting relationship."

"Damn man," there was nothing Fitz could say in this situation, "I'm sorry."

Derek shrugged.

"I just need a little time."

"Did you do a DNA test? You said he might not be your biological son, not that he wasn't."

"No," he shook his head.

"Then there is still hope. It's not over until it's over."

"The rose colored glasses are off. If he is my son, it won't change that I don't see her the same."

"You love her less because of one mistake."

"One catastrophic, life changing mistake."

Fitz nodded but said nothing.

"What?"

"Nothing. I just get what you're saying."

"And what's that?"

"You don't want to get married."

"To a cheater, I do not."

"Was it a one time thing or an affair?"

"Does it matter?"

"It does. Once can actually be a mistake. More than once, she made a conscious decision to do something."

"It was a one night stand."

"And you're making a conscious decision."

"I hit her."

Fitz was about to say something but Derek held his hand up.

"I don't need a lecture. I know it was wrong and that is why I can't marry her, even if Cole is my son. She brought out a side in me that I didn't even know I had. I have never been so angry in my life. I could have killed her."

Fitz understood completely. There was nothing that he could say to Derek because he knew that if the roles had been reversed, he would feel the same. He didn't know if he would be angry enough to put his hands on a woman but this was where his friend was so he was going to be there for him.

* * *

 **THREE DAYS LATER**

Once a year all of the Popes' got together in DC for what was an unofficial family reunion. Usually held at Eli Pope's house, it had become a huge event in the last seven years. Family flew in, neighbors came out. It was a big celebration that everyone looked forward to because you were guaranteed to get amazing food, great conversation, and you were around family.

It was still early when Olivia, Rochelle, and their kids got to Eli's house. There was about twenty people already there and moving around. After greeting Eli, everyone faded out to speak to the other's around the house. Olivia stayed with her father.

"Did you need any help?"

"Nope."

"You sure? I don't mind helping."

"I'm positive. Valerie and I have everything. Go mingle. Your brother is here."

"Nicolas is here?"

"Do you have any other brother's that I don't know about?"

"No, I just didn't know he was coming. I haven't talked to him."

"He got in last night. He helped get everything ready until I kicked him out."

Olivia loved the relationship between her father and brother. They had never officially met until four years ago when Nicolas came and spent the summer with Olivia. Their relationship formed quickly, and although Eli wasn't Nicolas' father, they both acted like family. Nicolas even spent some of his time staying with Eli over Olivia, he actually spent more time with Eli than her. It was amazing to watch their relationship grow over the years.

Eli kicked Olivia out of the kitchen

Olivia walked out to the spacious backyard and was immediately pulled to the side by Rochelle.

"I need you to throw yourself in the line of fire for me."

"Your mom," Olivia stated already knowing what this was about.

Eva Pope was for the most part a free spirit. The only girl in the in the middle of two strong brothers, Eva was often the wild child. Her weakness was men and over her years she has had a go of it with quite a few different dudes before getting back with Rochelle's father three years ago. Eva now has the outlook that if her and Ray can make it, anyone can make it. She has not taken Rochelle's divorce well at all.

"I wouldn't ask if it wasn't necessary. Riley told her about Disney world and it led to her starting on me about throwing my marriage away."

"Wow."

"I know. But she loves you so you will be an amazing distraction."

"Lead the way."

* * *

Fitz had sat by and watched Derek wallow in self-pity for three days. In all the years that Fitz had known him, he had never seen him like this. Fitz knew that the Derek's world was falling apart but he wasn't going to allow him to break without even trying. It wasn't over yet. Derek just had to put on his bog boy pants and see how he could move forward from this moment. Even if he didn't want to be with Nicole anymore, there was still the matter of his son's paternity and his job, hell his whole life back in Santa Barbara.

Fitz bumped Derek's leg as he walked pass the couch.

"Get up."

"No."

"We are getting out of the house today."

"I'm perfectly fine here."

"Derek, man, you have to get up. I understand that you are hurt but you can't just lay around in sadness."

"It's been three days."

"I know and your problems aren't going to go away just because you avoid them."

"It's been three days," Derek repeated himself.

"And today we are going to a barbecue."

"Who is having a barbecue?"

"Layla invited me to a family barbecue."

"Do you really think that I want to spend the time with you and your kid after finding out that my son may not be my son?"

"Yep. Because she will warm your heart and you will have an amazing time."

"I'm sorry," Derek said quickly, "I'm sure Layla is great, it's just—"

"You're not in the mood," Fitz finished him, "You are never going to be in the mood. Your life is in the middle of a huge change. You just have to get up every day and push forward."

"Okay," Derek sighed. Getting out of the house would be a good distraction for him because the days and miles weren't helping. Derek was still very angry. "I'll go."

"That's my boy! Will just stay an hour or two and then we're gone."

* * *

"Looks like you have company," Rochelle nodded in the direction of the door.

Olivia turned around to see Fitz walking out of the back door and on to the patio.

"Is that Derek?" Rochelle asked.

"I don't know," Olivia shrugged turning back to face Rochelle, "I only ever saw him like three times."

"I think that's him. What is he doing here?"

"Your guess is as good as mine."

Rochelle watched the two men and Olivia watched her. Rochelle had a smirk on her face.

"What? What is happening?"

"Has Fitz ever met uncle Eli?"

"No."

"Well your baby daddy is about to meet your father," Rochelle giggled.

"Why is that funny?"

"The look on your face. You look mortified."

"He keeps showing up."

"He is Layla's father. He is going to be around."

"I know but..."

"You didn't expect those old feelings to be this strong," Rochelle finished for her.

"I don't think that's what it is."

"You want to fuck him."

"What? No," Olivia shook her head.

"Why not?"

"Layla and Fitz are just getting to know each other. I'm not trying to mess that up."

"What I'm hearing is not a denial of wanting to fuck him. You're giving him and Layla time to build their relationship."

"I'm not trying to go down this road."

"Why not?"

"Life doesn't happen like that. You don't get do overs. Nothing good can come from bringing up the past."

"It sounds like you are trying to talk yourself out of it."

"He says he doesn't hate me but–"

"Forgive yourself, Olivia. If he says he doesn't hate you then he doesn't. You have to stop being so hard on yourself. As much as you try to fix and help people, you can't go back and reverse time. You can only move forward and if forward is with him then you need to give it a chance."

Fitz wondered why he was nervous about meeting Olivia's father. When Layla called and invited him to a family barbecue, she hadn't mentioned that it would be at her grandfather's house. Why would she? She was just happy to have him here.

"Grandpa," Layla called when they were near the man with his back turned working the grill.

He was an average height, if Fitz had to guess he would say that he was no more the 5'10 but his presence was strong, Fitz felt it from the moment that he turned around.

"I wanted to introduce you to my dad," Layla said.

Eli squinted his eyes at Fitz and looked him up and down. It went unnoticed by everyone around them. As quickly as the size up came, it went. Eli rubbed his hands on the side of his apron and extended his hand to Fitz.

"Eli Pope."

"Fitzgerald Grant," Fitz shook his hand.

"It's nice to put a face to the man who my granddaughter won't stop talking about."

That made Fitz smile.

"I told him he could just google you."

"And I told her I would wait to meet you in person. I just didn't know it would take so long for you to come around."

Fitz didn't know how to respond to that and was thankful when Layla introduced Derek so he wouldn't have to.

"This is my dad's friend, Derek," Layla introduced him, "He is staying with him for awhile."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Pope," Derek shook his hand.

"Oh, please call me Eli," Eli smiled at the men, "Are you hungry? We have lots of food and drinks. Help yourselves."

Fitz and Derek nodded and Eli went back to grilling. Layla walked Fitz and Derek around introducing them to different members of her family—her great-grandmother Ethel, her aunts Eva and Janice; uncles Ray, Frankie, and Earl; cousins Raquel, Riley, Jordan, Mariah, Tyler, and Aaliyah. After a while names started to blend together. But by Fitz memory, Ethel was the mother of Earl, Eva, and Eli. Earl was married to Janice and their children were Jordan and Mariah. Jordan was the father of Aaliyah and Mariah was Tyler's mom. Eva was Rochelle's mother and Raquel and Riley's grandmother, and her husband was Ray. Fitz couldn't for the life of him figure out how exactly uncle Frankie was related to because he had no children or wife connecting him and he wasn't a sibling to the older portion of the Popes'.

Once all the introductions had been made, the three separated; Derek went to get some food, Layla was talking to some friends from the neighborhood, and Fitz found himself in the hot seat at a table with Ray, Frankie, Earl, and Jordan.

On the other side of the yard Olivia watched from her seat. She wondered what her uncles and cousin were saying to Fitz. Getting through the men in her family were easier than the women but the men were no easy walk in the park.

"Go over if you are going to stare so hard."

"I'm not adding fuel to the fire."

"What happened?"

"He is talking with Earl, Ray, Frankie, and Jordan."

Rochelle snorted.

"It's not funny."

"It is. But it could be worse. If my mother gets to him it will be worse."

Olivia continued to watch, using body language as her main point of study since she couldn't read their lips from her position. Olivia's eyes only shifted when she saw someone approaching them.

"He is coming over here."

"Fitz?"

"Derek."

Rochelle turned around just as Derek was about three feet away.

"Hello ladies," Derek took a seat next to Rochelle.

Once he sat his plate down, he pulled Rochelle into a half hug.

Olivia now had new study subjects as she gave her attention to the people sitting in front of her.

"What's it been, nine years since I last seen you?" Derek asked Rochelle.

"That's about right because I didn't have Riley yet."

Olivia watched as the two played quick catch up on what was going on in their lives over the last few years. When it was clear that she wouldn't be included in the conversation, Olivia's attention shifted to the one happen with Fitz and her uncles across the yard. She looked on in horror as her uncle Frankie slapped Fitz on his back. Everything went silent for a few seconds and then boisterous laugh left her uncle. It was a sound she had never heard before. Whatever was said had the men at the table all in stitches.

Olivia wanted to know what was being said. All looked well but Olivia knew her family. Being the only child of the youngest Pope sibling, Olivia was often treated like the golden child who could do no wrong and was to be protected at all times. It had been hard for her family when she became a teenage mom and every single member of her family had a few choice words for her, and made a promise that if they ever met Layla's dad, they would have a few choice words for him as well.

The Popes' were sweet people who valued family, helped people in need, the loved mighty, loud, and big but they also could be vicious, they were strong minded and opinionated people who never held their tongues. They loved hard and fought even harder. They were a family that you had to be eased into but once you were in, you have a family and a support system for life.

* * *

It was late in the evening when Fitz was able to be alone with Olivia for the first time the whole day. It had been a revolving door of family. First Fitz spoke with Olivia's uncles, then her aunts and grandmother, followed by her father. The talk with Eli was scariest thing that has ever happened in Fitz's life. While talking, he realized that he had never actually met the parents of someone who he had slept with before. It was sad actually that at thirty-five he had yet to have a serious relationship.

Fitz stared at Olivia's backside as she searched the cabinet for container to put leftover food in.

"You've been avoiding me again," Fitz said making his presence known.

Olivia looked over her shoulder with a smile.

"I promise I haven't. You're a hot commodity today. Everyone wants to talk to my baby daddy," she looked at him.

He returned her smile, "Your family is great, very welcoming."

"I hope they weren't too much for you today."

"No. I had very interesting conversations. Your father scares me slightly."

"He is a teddy bear," she said with a laugh.

"Your grandmother loves me."

"You're very charming so it is hard not to."

The moment the words left her mouth, Olivia thought that she had said too much. The feelings between them were clearly still there but both didn't know how to proceed. They were figuring out how to raise a teenage daughter together. Acting on those feelings would only complicate things. That is what she told herself time and time again but after talking with Rochelle earlier, Olivia didn't want to stand in her own way.

Olivia heard Fitz walking towards her but she said nothing. She didn't turn around or move. She wasn't able to.

Fitz had Olivia pressed against the counter with his hands planted firmly on either side of her. Fitz bent down and kissed her bare shoulder. He didn't know what had gotten into him, maybe it was her clear flirtation or being in such close proximity of her, watching her in her element with her family, seeing her so relaxed and radiant all day but Fitz couldn't control himself. Fitz lost all sense of himself and just went for it. He was relieved that she didn't push him away or lay into him for touching her.

Olivia wanted to turn around. She wanted to see him but her legs wouldn't work. She feared that if she moved she would ruin the moment, whatever moment this was.

Fitz inhaled the scent of her hair and he felt intoxicated. He kissed the top of her hair and took a minute to just breathe her in.

"Tell me to stop," he was giving her an out. She didn't have to want this because he had feelings for her.

"I don't want you to stop."

Fitz couldn't stop the smile the formed on his face at her words. He turned her around so that he could see her.

The big brown eyes looking up at him with such adoration gave him the confidence he needed. Her eyes reassured him.

"I don't know what this is but I don't want to fight it."

Fitz reached his hand up, resting it on her neck and holding her chin up so that she could look at him. He stared at her, trying to commit this moment to memory. The moment that she came back to him. He traced her lips with thumbs. Fitz wanted to kiss her lips but was hesitant. She had said that she didn't want to fight this but he didn't want to rush things.

Olivia's hands were on his sides and she gave him a gentle squeeze to encourage him. Fitz leaned down connecting his lips with hers. It was a feather light touch, one full of uncertainty and nerves of a first kiss. Fitz's tongue parted her lips. Their tongues caressed each other, doing the familiar dance of old lovers. They were getting reacquainted with each other. Their lips saying words that neither was able to speak. What started out as a slow kiss turned into a deep, dizzying, passionate kiss. There was a need for air but neither dared pull away. They were too lost in each other, breathing for each other.

The sound of a throat clearing pulled them away from each other. To Olivia's relief it was just Derek, she would not have heard the end of it if it had been someone in her family.

"Where is the bathroom?" Derek asked.

"Second door on the right," Olivia said.

"Thank," Derek left the kitchen.

"Oh my God," Olivia sighed.

"I'm sorry."

"I'm not. I don't regret the kiss," Olivia clarified, "We're lucky it was just him. We would not have heard the end of it if it had been someone in my family."

Fitz nodded his understanding. Now probably wasn't the best time to act on his feelings. The thought of her father walking in on them left him feeling as relieved as she was for Derek.

"I'm out of the bathroom," Derek announced.

A few seconds later Derek walked into the kitchen.

"Don't mind me. Just passing by, not trying to interrupt anything."

Derek walked towards the back door and was halfway out when he popped his head back in.

"I'm nosy. So how long has this been going on?"

"Bye," Fitz pushed him out of the door.

"He is your Rochelle," Olivia stated with a laugh.

"He is," Fitz nodded, "I better go."

"Yeah. Don't want him getting any ideas."

* * *

" _Tell me to stop," he spoke directly into her ear._

" _I don't want you to stop," Olivia spoke in a voice just above a whisper._

 _Fitz caressed her thighs. His hands moved lower until they reached the hem of her dress. Fitz moved his hands under her dress, slowly his hands crept up her thigh until he reached her center._

 _Olivia's breath hitched in anticipation. When his hand cupped her center, Olivia was instantly reminded that it had been years since she was touched by anyone besides herself down there. Fitz slipped two fingers inside of her center and both of them moaned. Fitz fingers twisted inside of her, hitting her spot and causing a low moan to escape her lips._

 _Olivia gripped the counter, biting her bottom lip to stifle the moan on her tongue. Fitz reached his free hand up and grabbed her breast, rubbing his thumb over her covered nipple. Olivia's eyes closed and Fitz's name fell from her lips.  
_

 _"I want to taste you," Fitz whispered in her ear, "Can I do that?"_

 _"Yes," Olivia moaned._

 _Fitz kissed from her ear to her neck. He trailed kisses down her back as his fingers continued to move in and out of her. Once on his knees, Fitz lifted Olivia's dress up. Pulling his fingers out of her center, Fitz quickly removed her panties and Olivia spread her legs._

 _The moment Olivia felt Fitz tongue on her, she let out a loud moan. Her hand went to her mouth as she tried to silence herself. Olivia didn't know what had gotten in to her. What was this hold that Fitz had on her? Here she was in her father's kitchen with her family outside, her dress up and Fitz's tongue deep inside of her._

 _Fitz tongue licked her folds expertly. Olivia's eyes fluttered and she heard ringing in her ears…_

Olivia's eyes shot open as she registered her ringing phone. She reached for her phone in the dark answering it before the call could go to voicemail.

"Olivia Pope," she had defaulted to business woman self because that is usually what calls in the middle of the night were–business.

"You answer your phone in the middle of the night with your full name?"

Olivia was immediately at attention when she heard the baritone voice in her ear.

"Fitz," she pulled her phone away from her ear to see the time, "It's two in the morning."

"I know, and I'm sorry."

"What's up?" She sat up in bed.

"I was thinking about you and I wanted to see you but it's late so…," his voice trailed off.

"So you called me instead," she finished for him.

"Yes." He was silent, almost bashful and Olivia didn't say anything.

"Hearing your voice will have to do for now."

"Where are you?"

"Home."

"Pick a place and I'll meet you there."

"It's late."

"I'm aware."

"I can pick you up."

"I'm a big girl, Fitz."

"I'm aware but if you're coming out I'll pick you up."

"How would that look, you picking me up in the middle of the night?"

"Like two friends hanging out."

Olivia smiled. She wanted this, whatever it was, more than anything in the world. It felt right. So here she was throwing caution to the wind and giving Fitz a chance.

"I'll be ready in twenty minutes," Olivia said.

"I'll text you when I'm outside."

* * *

Fitz didn't know how he got so lucky. He went from Olivia avoiding him to having her here with him in the matter of a week. Fitz was glad that Olivia was giving getting to know him a chance.

He had picked her up thirty minutes ago and now they were sharing late night room service at the W hotel. Fitz had gotten acquainted with the hotel because he stayed here for the first few weeks that he had been in DC.

Fitz looked up at Olivia from his position on the bed as she straddled him. They were both fully clothed but being so close to her made Fitz want to reach out and touch her.

Olivia fed Fitz a spoonful of the brownie cheesecake that they were sharing.

"Do you bring all of your women to hotels?"

"Are you calling yourself my woman?" Fitz asked after swallowing the cheesecake.

"This is really good cheesecake," Olivia said ignoring his question and putting after a spoonful of cheesecake in her mouth.

He nodded his agreement.

"Come here."

Olivia leaned down, getting closer to him. Fitz tongue glided across her bottom lip. He connected their lips, slipping his tongue into her mouth Fitz taste the cheesecake on her tongue.

"Cheesecake taste good but you taste better," Fitz spoke against her lips before kissing her again. Olivia smiled into their kids at his words. A series of quick tongue filled pecks followed.

Olivia didn't understand what was happening. She was slipping under his spell. It was intoxicating, this dizzying feeling of happiness and lust. Olivia felt the butterflies in her stomach every time Fitz looked at her or his lips touched her. It was that summer in Santa Barbara again and Olivia was falling quickly. It was irrational, and Olivia had no way of slowing her feelings down.

The absence of Fitz lips on hers brought her out of her head.

"There you are," Fitz said when Olivia looked at him.

"Sorry."

"What's up," Fitz searched her eyes.

"Nothing."

"Oh, I don't believe that."

"I was just in my head and got distracted."

"What's on your mind?"

"It's silly, really."

"I want to know."

"This is good," Olivia said, "Whatever this is, it feels good. It's like eighteen again and I'm not use to the butterflies I feel in my stomach whenever you look at me or touch me."

Fitz smiled at Olivia. Seeing her act shy with him added another layer of adoration for Olivia.

"It's silly," she said.

"It's not silly. I feel the same way. Not butterflies but…"

The lopsided grin on his both adorable and reassuring. He saw her and he shared the feelings that she had.


	9. I Wanna Know

**I Wanna Know**

" _It's amazing how you knock me off my feet. Every time you come around me I get weak, oh yeah. Nobody ever made me feel this way, oh. You kiss my lips and then you take my breath away. So I want to know, I want to know what turns you on. I'd like to know so I can be all that and more. I'd like to know, I'd like to know what makes you cry. So I can be the one who always makes you smile_."—Joe

* * *

Olivia's eyes fluttered open as she adjusted to sunlight peeking through a crack in the curtains. She looked down at the arm thrown over her and smiled. It had been a while, a long while since she cuddled in bed with anyone. It felt good, so good that she didn't want the moment to be over. Olivia could lay in Fitz's arms forever. It was as if they fit perfectly together. Somehow in the time span of a week they had managed to get to this place and it just felt right. It felt like she belonged in his arms. It scared her how fast she was falling for him, but there was an excitement there.

Olivia wanted to live in this moment forever but she knew that she couldn't. She had to get home before anyone noticed that she was gone. Olivia reached for her phone and the movement caused Fitz to hold on her tighter. Olivia smiled and in that moment she wondered how she had ever went without this. She had cuddled before but never had she had feeling of someone wanting to be so close to her that it reached through their subconscious. It was a pull in her stomach, she felt actual butterflies knowing that this man wanted her.

She could feel his breath on her neck, the patterned of his breaths changed, alerting her to him now being awake. He was quiet, still, almost as if he too, were trying to stay in this moment.

Fitz kissed the back of her neck repeatedly.

"Good morning," Olivia's voice surprised her. It had to be the joy she heard in it. The permanent smile that was on her face, coming through in those two simple words.

"Good morning," Fitz's baritone sounded even deeper in the morning. His voice sent a shiver down her spine that wrapped around to her center.

Olivia didn't know how it was possible but even fully clothed, Olivia felt Fitz inside of her.

"What time is it?"

Olivia looked at the home screen on her phone and had a slight moment of panic when she released it was after ten.

"10:38," she informed him.

He made no room to move. He wasn't worried about time or the rest of the day and that warmed her heart. They laid there in silence with Fitz placing the occasional kiss on the back of her neck and his thumb grazing her nipple through her shirt.

"I have to be getting home soon," Olivia said breaking the silence.

"What's your rush?"

"I technically snuck out last night."

"And you stayed out past your curfew so late that there is no way for you to sneak back in unnoticed."

"I have a house full of guest and you have a houseguest."

"Derek is a grown man."

Olivia turned in his arms. She was instantly lost in his blue eyes and unable to form a thought let alone a sentence.

"You want to leave me, Livvie?"

"No," her response was instant and it caused him to smile. "But I do have to get home soon."

"Okay," he still made no attempt to move, "Just give me one minute."

"Okay. One minute."

They lay there in silence for one minute, just looking in each other's eyes and holding each other. It was somehow the most intense thing that Olivia has done to date. After their minute was up, Fitz tried to pull away first, not wanting to keep her any longer than time would allow.

Olivia was the one to hold him tight, not letting him move much. Fitz looked down at her and placed kiss on her lips and then her nose, forehead, each of her cheeks, and then her lips again. Olivia smiled into his kiss, she was sickeningly happy.

"Come on. Let's get you home," he patted her ass lightly.

"We have to talk about us and Layla," Olivia was trying to prolong her stay because she wasn't ready to leave Fitz. Olivia knew that they had to discuss what they would tell Layla if anything at all moving forward. She thought it would be better to iron out the details of whatever this was between them right here and right now.

"I don't think we should tell Layla about this until we figure it out first."

"You want me to be your dirty little secret?"

His voice had a hint of amusement in it and she had to bite her bottom lip to keep the smile off of her face.

"No. I want us to know what this is before we throw it at her."

"We're dating," he said simply.

"The requirement for dating is to actually go on dates. You haven't taken me on one date."

"When are you free?" Olivia didn't know it but she scrunched her nose up. Fitz thought it was the cutest thing. "I'm serious."

"When do you want to take me out Fitz?"

"What are you doing next Saturday?"

"Rochelle will still be in town then."

"I didn't ask you that."

"I'm free next Saturday."

"Then it's a date. You'll need an overnight bag."

She gave him the same scrunched up nose face again and he could tell that it was her tell of when she wanted to say something but she was biting her tongue.

"You have the cutest little face when you're trying not to question things."

"I have a poker face, mister."

"Okay."

Olivia buried her face in his chest. She mumbled something inaudible. Fitz slid his hand and to her hair and gently pulled her up.

"What's that?"

"It's crazy how you make me blush like a schoolgirl," Olivia repeated.

Fitz kissed her. It was a quick kiss, too quick for Olivia's liking but she couldn't complain as his kisses traveled down to her neck. When she felt his tongue on her neck, a moan escaped her lips. Fitz placed open mouth kissed from her neck to her ear.

"I'm really glad you're here with me," he whispered in her ear. He licked inside of her ear before saying, "When you're ready and time allows, I am going to devour every inch of your body to show you just how appreciative I am for you giving us a chance."

"Oh dear God," Olivia whimpered.

It was this very moment that Olivia knew she was in trouble.

* * *

It was three o'clock when Olivia finally made it back home. It was quiet in her house and Olivia didn't inquire about where everyone was. She made her way upstairs and was stopped four steps from the top when she heard Rochelle's voice.

"I know damn well you didn't try to sneak your ass back into this house."

Olivia was silent as if she had been caught by a parent.

"If you don't bring your ass back down here."

Olivia slowly walked back down the steps.

"Hey Shelly!"

"Don't ' _hey Shelly_ ' me. Where your ass been?"

"Something came up at work."

"Mmmoh my God. Stop your fucking lying."

"Did you really just use a vine video saying on me?"

"Don't change the subject. When I woke up and you weren't here, Layla said you probably got called into work cause that happens from time to time. I snooped because I'm me and I saw that you didn't take your purse or nothing, just your cellphone. After the kids went with uncle Eli, I called Derek and he told me Fitz was M.I.A as well."

"You have Derek's number?"

"This isn't about me. Where your hoe ass been?"

"Out."

Rochelle looked at her waiting for her to spill the beans.

"Spill it."

"There is nothing to spill."

"There is a bite mark on you neck."

"There is not," Olivia's hand immediately went to the spot on her neck that Fitz was pay special attention to earlier.

She touched what felt like a scratch on her neck. The next thing Rochelle knew, Olivia was headed back upstairs. Rochelle followed after her and found her in her personal bathroom examining her neck.

"What the hell?"

Olivia didn't know how it was possible to not be aware of a bite mark. There were actual teeth marks on her skin.

"Lucy, you've got some 'splaining to do!"

Olivia looked at her through the mirror.

"I hate you."

"Was the dick bomb?"

"We didn't sleep together."

"You spent twelve hours with the man and expect me to believe that you didn't fuck?"

"We didn't fuck."

"Then what did you do?"

"We talked and kissed and fell asleep."

"Oh God. Are you teenagers?"

"No. That's why we are able to talk and sleep in bed next to each other fully clothed."

"When did all this start?"

"At the barbecue. One minute we're talking in the kitchen and the next thing I know he is standing really close to me and he kissed my shoulder and was like, ' _tell me to stop_ '. I was like putty in his hands because I didn't want him to stop and I told him as much."

Rochelle smiled at her.

"Oh he is smooth. He knew damn well you weren't going to tell him to stop."

"I'm so weak."

"Stop it right now."

"You should see me around him. I'm like annoyingly happy. I have smiled more in the last twelve hours than I have in the last twelve years."

"That's a good thing. Happiness is a good thing."

"I know that but—"

"There should be no _but_ after it. You're allowed to be happy. I don't know if this is a product of your job or if you are still punishing yourself for becoming a teenage mom but you are allowed to be happy and get excited and feel emotions. You're not a robot."

"I know that but we could be moving fast."

"You two have a fifteen year old child. If you got married next week, it wouldn't be moving too fast. Speaking of said child, what are you going to tell Layla?"

"Nothing. I want to keep this between us until we figure out what this is. He says we're dating," Olivia bit the inside of her mouth to stop the smile that was trying to form, "He's taking me out next Saturday."

"This is good," Rochelle smiled, seeing Olivia happy made her happy.

* * *

 **Livvie:** _What are you doing today?_

 **Fitz:** _Going to the gun range._

 **Livvie:** _Since when are you a shooter?_

 **Fitz:** _Since your dad and uncles invited me to go shooting with them._

Reading his text, Olivia quickly dialed his number. After only one ring, Fitz picked up and Olivia started right in.

"Why didn't you tell me my dad and uncles invited you shooting?"

"Hi," Fitz voice had a hint of amusement in it.

"Hi. Why didn't you tell me my dad invited you shooting?"

"Slipped my mind I guess."

"You're such a liar."

"Is this a big deal?"

"Uh, yeah. This is the ' _are you a real man or a bullshitter_ ' test. The gun range is how the Pope men weed out the weak ones. And if you are found to be weak, they will eat you alive. You should have told me. We could have strategized."

"You're making this into a bigger deal than it is."

"No this is a huge deal. They only ever take out boyfriends or fiancés."

"Are you saying that I'm not your boyfriend?"

"It's been two days."

"I'm going to need you to add at least two months to that because I was courting you fifteen years ago."

"Is that what you call it?"

"Yeah. I took you everywhere that summer."

"I paid for half of the places."

"I spent my summer babysitting because of you."

Olivia let out a laugh when she remembered how more than half of their outings included her little brother and his friend Shane.

"You loved the kids."

"I did but that's beside the point."

"We are getting way off topic."

"We are right where we need to be."

"The gun range," she started.

"I'm not worried."

"They scare Edison half to death."

"Who's Edison?"

Olivia didn't know why but she hesitated for a moment before telling him.

"My ex-fiancé."

It was Fitz's turn to be silent.

"You were engaged once."

"I was."

"Am I allowed to ask what happened?"

"You are," Olivia was stalling, for some reason she was hesitant to tell him about Edison.

Edison Davis was the perfect man, he just wasn't perfect for Olivia. He went to Princeton and Harvard Law. He is a partner at one of the top law firms in DC. Although his work was mainly in marketing and intellectual property, Edison was a numbers guy who loved educating people on the importance of managing their money and investing. He did a lot of work with low-income families and the youth to make sure that they knew how to manage their money and live their best lives. He invested a lot of his money early in his career and he used the money he made to invest in local businesses and financial literacy programs.

Olivia had first met Edison when he was a guest speaker in her intellectual property law class. After the class he handed out his card to all the students encouraging them to contact him if they were looking for internships or work after graduation. Olivia took him up on his offer and ended up landing a summer internship at the same law firm that he worked at. The internship turned into a job after graduation where Olivia worked under Edison for two years and they became good friends.

Edison was the first man that she ever felt comfortable introducing Layla to, even before they started dating he took a liking to the little girl. He loved kids and his dream was to have a family of his own. Looking back on it, even when they were just work colleagues, Edison was like a father figure to Layla. He helped her and did things with and for her with no motive, he just loved kids. That was part of what made Olivia fall for him.

When she took a leave of absence from work to help an old college professor with her campaign to run for senator, she and Edison started hanging out and talking even more since they didn't see each other at work.

They were having drinks after dinner one night and somehow got on the topic of crazy encounters with the opposite sex. Olivia was talking about her bartender friend with benefits, Eric and something stupid that he did when Edison said, ' _one day you'll find yourself a man instead of these boys you play with_ '.

In truth, Olivia didn't play much with anyone. Guys, mostly older men flirted with her a lot and she flirted back but she never slept with any of them because she didn't want people to get the idea that she slept her way to the top. She had slept with two men in two years. One was a fellow lawyer named Franklin Russell, the two had hooked up one night at a mixer while she was still in law school. He was the second person that she ever had sex with and he was really cool but the moment they started working together, she cut it off. The other guy was Eric. It was purely sexual and as time went on, he got on her nerves but she had needs.

Edison never outwardly flirted with her or made advances towards her but their relationship gradually changed. They were together for four years and were engaged for eight months before they just ended it. They wanted different things out of life. Edison wanted a family and kids with her. Olivia had a daughter and was just started out her business so the farthest thing on her mind was having a baby. He would have waited for her but the moment she said yes, Olivia realized that she didn't want to spend the rest of her life with him. Edison was great and he loved her daughter but she realized that what had pulled her towards him was what he represented for Layla. It was stability, a complete family, all the things that she thought would bring her happiness but it felt suffocating after a while.

Ending things with Edison was hard but it was what they both needed. She would forever grateful for him and she valued his friendship, as well as the role he played in her daughter's life to this day.

"We wanted different things in life," Olivia said simply.

"Was he an asshole?"

"No. He is perfect."

Fitz didn't like the sound of that but he said nothing.

"He just wasn't perfect for me. I wanted him for all the wrong reasons. He was great with Layla even when we were just coworkers and I fell for the stability that he brought into our lives for Layla. We worked because we were friends first but it wasn't meant to be."

Hearing how great Edison was with Layla made Fitz feel a pain in his chest. It hurt that he didn't get that early time with her.

"I'm sorry. It's inconsiderate of me talk about Edison and Layla's relationship."

"No. I asked."

"I'm sorry," Olivia didn't know what else to say.

"Don't apologize," Fitz quickly said. They couldn't change the past so he didn't want to rehash it. "So, the gun range," he said quickly changing the subject.

Olivia appreciated the change of topic.

"Get in with uncle Ray and you will be cool. If uncle Earl likes you, you are as good as gold because he is the oldest and like the father figure of the family. Don't trust Jordan because he just started getting invited to the gun range for these interrogation sessions so he will quickly turn on you to save his own ass. Just know that uncle Frankie will mess with you regardless so what matters is your reaction to what he throws at you. Your reactions determines if it is good hearted fun mess or if hates you and will make your life hell every time your paths cross."

"Got it. Ray and Earl safe spaces, Jordan is shifty in this situation, and Frankie is a wildcard. What about your dad?"

"My dad is a teddy bear but in this situation you might get a five hundred pound grizzly bear. He has different tactics than all the men. He is more methodically and calculating so watch the way he asks you questions. He is a wildcard too but where uncle Frankie is an upfront, in your face wildcard, my dad is a snake in the garden wildcard. You will not see the attack coming, you'll just feel the bite and know that it's too late for you to do anything to save yourself."

Fitz tried to laugh off the nerves he now felt creeping up.

"You're over exaggerating."

"I'm not. But you'll be fine."

* * *

Fitz hadn't been nervous about meeting up with the men in Olivia's family. Even as Olivia gave him the rundown of what to expect, Fitz was cool but it was something about seeing the guns all laid out on the table in front of him that gave him pause.

"Guest pick first. Select your gun, Fitz," Eli said.

It was a simple enough statement but Fitz could tell this was test number one. The men watched him as he looked at the table of guns. Fitz chose the 9mm glock because it looked like the safest choice.

"Looks like you owe me twenty dollars, Frank," Ray said with a laugh.

"What was the bet?" Fitz asked.

"Frankie thought you were going to go for the shotgun to prove how big of a man you are. I thought you couldn't possibly be stupid enough to go for the shotgun on your first time shooting."

"It has happened before," Earl reminded him.

"That's because Gavin is an idiot."

Who knew that playing it safe and not overcompensating was would come in handy?

Fitz watched as all the men picked up their guns. Eli picked the desert eagle, both Earl and Jordan picked M4s, Ray picked the TP9, and Frankie picked a Smith & Wesson 500.

"How long are you in town, Fitz?" Earl asked.

"I have a place so I'm living here now."

"Where was home before you moved here?" Ray asked.

"New York but I also have a condo in LA and I sometimes stay with my dad when I'm out west."

"Where does your dad live?" Frankie asked.

"Santa Barbara."

"Are your parents still together?" Earl asked.

"My mother died when I was twelve."

"Sorry to hear that," Earl said.

"Yeah, it was tough but it brought me and my dad together."

"Were your parents not together when your mom died?"

"No, they were. It's just my dad was a bit of a workaholic and weren't super close."

"Are we shooting today?" Frankie asked.

Without waiting for anyone to answer, Franking put on his earmuffs. Everyone followed suit. Frankie stepped up and aimed at the target. Fitz watched as he shot repeated rounds like he was used to it. Fitz figured he had to be in the military at some point in his life. One by one the men all stepped up to shoot.

It was down to Fitz and Eli and before either man could step up, Eli asked, "How did you meet my daughter?"

It was time for another round of questions.

"My friend Derek had band and he needed me fill in for someone who was sick. Olivia came to the performance."

"Was she like groupie to you?" Jordan asked.

"No."

"But she was just another skirt you were chasing," Frankie stated.

"No, sir. She wasn't."

"You weren't serious about her though. Seeing as though you never tried to contact spending the summer together," Eli said.

Fitz had no quick answer to his question. He didn't know why he never ask for her number all those years ago. He had regretted it for years, even more now that he knew about Layla. Things would have been so much different if he had had the confidence he has now back then.

After it was clear that Fitz wasn't going to respond, Eli stepped up and took his shots. Eli effortlessly shot the desert eagle with one hand until all the bullets were gone. When his target was brought closer, the sheet of paper had three holes in the head, three in the chest, and two near the private area.

"Your turn, Fitz."

* * *

On Saturday Fitz had sent a car to pick Olivia up at 11am. He hadn't told her what they were doing or where they were going, just to pack an overnight bag. She didn't like not knowing what they were doing but she wasn't going to question it.

When her car arrived at the airport, Olivia had more questions. She had assumed that they were going to go out to dinner and stay in the night in a hotel. Olivia should have known it wouldn't be a simple dinner in the city.

Olivia got out of the car and walked over to a waiting Fitz.

"This seems like a lot."

"It's our first date so it's not enough."

"Where are we going?"

"New York."

Fitz let Olivia walk up the steps before him. She took a seat as he put her bag away.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"No. I'm fine."

Fitz took a seat next to her. The pilot came over the intercom to announce that they would be taking off in fifteen minutes.

After an hour flight and a twenty minute car ride, Fitz and Olivia had finally arrived at Fitz's place. Fitz gave Olivia a tour of his house starting with the bedroom and ending with his home studio.

"So this is where the magic happens," Olivia stated as she looked around his home studio.

Fitz stood closely behind her naming equipment and answering any questions she had. He was trying to focus on finishing up the tour of his home but his mind kept drifting to places he wanted to spread her out and take her.

"Most of the magic happens on the living room couch."

Fitz voice sounded distance. Olivia turned to face him.

"What's on your mind?"

"You."

Olivia saw desire in his eyes.

"I'm ready whenever you are," Olivia was giving him the okay to make a move.

"Come here," Fitz reached out and grabbed her by the hair pulling her closer towards him.

Fitz hands were in her hair as he brought his lips crashing into hers. This kiss was frantic as if he had lost all of his tenderness and replaced it with rough passion and deep desire. There was something so animalistic and raw about the way their tongues came together. The need she felt in him matched her own.

Olivia reached for his pants, unbuttoning them. As if the sound of his belt woke Fitz up, he grabbed Olivia's hands, breaking their kiss. He stared at Olivia and she returned his long. They were both trying to catch their breath from their kiss. Olivia wondered if she had done something wrong or misread the situation. The intensity in his gaze made her unsure.

Fitz wanted her but he didn't want to be rough with her. He didn't want their first time in so many years to be rushed, rough sex in his studio. She was worth more than that.

Fitz could see the confusion in her eyes. He pecked her lips, much gentler this time. Releasing her hands, Fitz placed a series of small pecks on her lips. Each kiss slowed the moment down and reassured Olivia. Fitz picked her up and placed her on the nearest surface, which was his black piano.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be rough with you."

Olivia's eyes softened and she offered him a smile. She reached up and cupped his face, bringing her lips to his.

"It's okay. I'm not made of glass. I won't break if you're a little rough. And besides, I liked it, a lot."

He kissed her once more and spoke against her lips, "Lay back."

Olivia did as told. Fitz leaned over her, trailing kisses from her lips down to her chin and neck. He continued kissing down her clothed body. His hands caressed her breast as though her clothes as her continued down until he kneeling before her.

Slipping his hands under her dress, he slowly pulled down her panties. Fitz placed her legs over his shoulders and disappeared under her dress.

Olivia let out a low moan when his teeth grazed her inner thigh. He sucked and nibbled on her thighs, marking her in a way that said, " _ **His**_."

Fitz used two fingers to open her up, licking her folds. His tongue explored deep inside of her, licking, sucking, nibbling her lips.

"Mmm yes," Olivia moaned.

Fitz moaned at the taste of her. Using the tip of his tongue to trace around her clit. He sucked on her clit and Olivia's legs tightened around his head. With his hands on both her thighs, he spread her legs opening her up more to him.

"Fuck Fitz," she hissed.

Olivia reached for his hand on her thigh and she held onto it. Fitz interlocked their fingers as he continued to pay special attention to her clit.

"I can't," she whimpered, "I'm gonna come."

Those words were music to Fitz's ears. He continued to devour her as her orgasm hit. She screamed his name loudly as her body began to spasm.

* * *

Fitz heard her heels walking down the steps before he saw her. He took her in from head to toe as she walked towards him. Olivia wore a black form fitting, knee length dress with spaghetti straps and cutouts on her stomach, revealing a peek of her skin. A tan blazer and four inch heels completed her outfit. Her hair was pulled up into a tight bun. She wore studs and a single gold necklace. When Fitz saw that the necklace was bare, he looked at her hands. On her right index finger was his great-grandmother's ring.

Fitz felt a lump forming in his throat. He didn't know why he was so overcome with emotions but seeing the ring that had been worn by three generations of women in his family on Olivia's finger made him happy. He was going to marry her one day. He just knew it.

Fitz stood up and walked over to her.

"You're making it really hard for me not to think inappropriate thoughts about you."

"Good."

Fitz pecked her lips, "You look good."

"Just good?"

"Damn good," he kissed her again, "Delectable," another kiss. "Edible," he bit her bottom lip.

"You're not so bad yourself," she squeezed his butt.

"We should get going," Fitz spoke against her late.

They could really get lost in each other and if they didn't stop now, they would never leave his house.

They made small talk on the drive to the restaurant. Fitz still hadn't told Olivia where they were eating dinner at despite her asking him all day. After finding a parking spot two blocks away from their destination, Olivia and Fitz made their way towards the restaurant.

When they got to B.B. King Blues Club & Grill, Olivia thought it was perfect. Olivia stopped in her spot when she saw the marquee with Maxwell's name on it.

"You okay," Fitz asked, trying to hide his amusement.

"Maxwell? _This Woman's Work_ Maxwell? _Fortunate_ Maxwell?"

"Yes."

"No," she hit him on the arm. "Oh my God!"

"I thought you might like it."

"You're really trying to get some ass tonight."

"You can say that after I introduce you to him."

"Are you fucking with me?"

"How do you think I got the tickets on such short notice?"

"You know Maxwell?"

"Yeah."

"Oh don't say it nonchalantly like that. This is Maxwell. Have you met Beyoncé as well?"

"I've met her twice. I doubt that she remembers me or knows who I am though."

Olivia opened her mouth to say something but closed it deciding against it. Fitz watched her nose scrunch in the way that he was getting accustomed to.

He gave her a peck on the lips, it was becoming as natural as breathing, as if his lips were only meant to kiss her.

"Let's go."

Fitz and Olivia entered the restaurant. There was two parties ahead of them so they had a small wait before they were seated. A hostess escorted them to a booth on the left side of the stage. Fitz ordered a bottle of red wine and the hostess left them alone with their menus.

When the hostess returned with their bottle of wine, she took their orders and left.

"Do you come here often?"

After asking the question, Olivia realized how much it sounded like a corny pick up line.

"I did a lot when I first moved to the city."

Olivia looked around, taking in the atmosphere of the club.

"I haven't been on many dates but this seems perfect. It's very you."

He smiled at her.

"So tell me about the last fifteen years of your life."

"Anything specific?"

"No," he shook his head.

"Well, I went to George Washington University for undergrad and then I went to Georgetown for law. I had a baby the end of my freshmen year of college. I took off a semester and then went back the following January. I took class through summer so I was able to graduate on time. I did an internship while in law school that turned into a job after graduation. I practiced law for two years and then I took a leave of absence from work to help an old college professor with her campaign run for senator. After that I worked for her for a while before starting my own business four years ago."

"That sounded like the bio section on a website. What do you like to do for fun? Have you traveled? Do you want to travel? What's your favorite food?"

"I don't really have time for fun."

"There's always time for fun."

"I work about seventy hours a week. Whatever time is not given to work goes to Layla and home life."

"That's sad."

"That's life."

"When's the last time you had a vacation?"

"Two years ago. We went to Hawaii for Layla's thirteenth birthday."

"That's one hell of a thirteenth birthday present."

"You would have done Paris."

"I probably would have. Does she want Paris?"

"She does. It's on her twenty before twenty list."

"What's a twenty before twenty list?"

"A list a twenty goals that she wants to accomplish before she turns twenty. Her six grade teacher had all of the students create a list during career week."

"Wow, I wish I had her sixth grade teacher. I wouldn't have bullshitted through most of my teen years."

"I hear several stories there."

"There is but I'm not telling you."

"I'll get it out of you."

There was a flirtatious tone to her voice and Fitz wondered just what she would do to get it out of him.

* * *

Fitz knew for a fact that Olivia was trying to kill him. He knew it the moment the she stepped out of the bathroom in a pale pink bra and matching thong. He watched her every move as she made her way over to him.

"I forgot to pack my pajamas in my overnight bag," Olivia said as she straddled him.

"Did you now?" Fitz hands were on her ass, caressing her round cheeks.

Olivia nodded. She leaned in and kissed him. It was a slow kiss that quickly deepened as he took control. The kiss was forceful, yet gentle at the same time. Fitz bit her bottom lip and ran his tongue over it, sucking it into his mouth.

Olivia moaned, lost in magical way his lips made her feel. She pulled away only when air was needed.

Fitz eyes traveled from her lips down to the valley of her breast. His eyes landed on the tattoo on her rib cage, he was immediately taken back to the night that they got them. They were just kids then, and it really felt like goodbye forever but God brought her back to him.

"Lay back."

Fitz looked at her before doing exactly as he was told.

"It's my turn now. Don't move," she whispered in his ear.

Olivia placed open mouth kisses down his neck and on his shoulders. She kissed his chest, using her tongue to trace around his nipple. Fitz breath hitched and he flinched at the contact.

"Don't move," she bit his nipple and then sucked it into her mouth.

Fitz let out a moan when she blew on his nipple. Olivia continued to kiss and lick her way down his abs. She sucked the skin above his navel, causing Fitz to squirm.

She bit him again.

"You don't listen."

"You're making it very hard."

"Am I?" She rubbed his penis through his boxer briefs.

Olivia pulled down his boxer briefs just enough for his penis to spring free. She took his in her hands and stroked it up and down. Fitz sat up on his elbows to look at her. She winked at him before licking from the base of his penis to the tip. Her tongue swirled around his tip four times before disappearing into her mouth.

"Shit," Fitz moaned as he watched her head bob up and down, taking more of him into her mouth on every down stroke.

Olivia alternated between taking all of him in her mouth and swirling her tongue around the tip. She licked the underside of his penis from the tip to his balls.

Fitz thought he was going to lose his mind when she started sucking his balls into her mouth.

"Fuck, Liv. Just like that," Fitz moaned.

After pay special attention to his balls, Olivia went back to suck taking him fully in her mouth. Fitz was about to come. He didn't want to finish that way so he grabbed her hair and pulled her away from his penis.

He slipped from her lips and Olivia groaned, attempting to suck him again, she licked his tip before Fitz pulled her away with a little more force.

"I need to be inside you."

Olivia kissed her way back up his body until she reached his lips. Fitz slipped his tongue into her mouth, as he kissed her, he unhooked her bra and threw it across the room. Olivia's hand was on his penis, stroking it up and down.

Fitz bit her lip, "You're not playing fair."

"I didn't know I was supposed to," she grinded her against him.

Fitz could no longer take it. He grabbed her hands, holding them behind her back with one hand. Sliding her thong to the side, Fitz entered her without warning and she hissed. His upward thrust started out slow, allowing her time to adjust to him. Once she started to grind on him, Fitz picked up the pace, slipping deeper inside of her with every thrust.

"Oh my God," Olivia let out a loud moan.

"Oh fuck," Fitz grunted as Olivia clenched around him, "You feel so good."

Fitz hammered into her and Olivia lost her ability to speak. Her mouth fell open, eyes tightly shut as she tried to keep up with his upward thrust. His mouth on her breast sucking her nipples helped Olivia find her voice again.

"Fitz, fuck…God yessss," she screamed when she felt her orgasm right there.

It was when his thumb grazed her clit that everything went black. She screamed Fitz's name as the flood gate broke open. Fitz continued to slam into her, using both of his hand to hold her shaking body still as he thrust himself closer to completion. With just a few more pumps inside of her, Fitz came with her breast still in his mouth muffling his grunts.


	10. Seconds Of Pleasure

**Seconds Of Pleasure**

" _It's a kiss in the morning sun. A few minutes of fun before you have to run. Before you have to run. It's all of the little things that you've done to ease my burden and my confusion. See, I hold on to the feeling cause I don't know when I will feel it again. I've become amused by the little things. Seconds of pleasure. Seconds of pleasure. Life's little treasures._ "—Van Hunt

* * *

Fitz hands covered Olivia's as they gripped the sheets together. He kissed the side of her neck as he thrust into her. Her soft whimpers encouraged him. His pace was slow, commanding her body. Fitz loved how responsive she was, even now as Olivia tried her best muffle her sounds by burying her face in the bed. Fitz showered her shoulders and back with kisses. He moved his hips in a circular motion, hitting a spot that had Olivia calling out for God. He smiled against her skin, enjoying the feeling of her gripping him.

"Please," she begged, unable to make a full request.

"Please what?"

"Do that again," she whimpered.

Fitz moved his hips in a circular motion again and Olivia chanted his name. He picked up his pace slightly. Still moving at a relatively slow pace, his thrust seemed deeper, each one making Olivia gasp.

"You're about come," Fitz said confidently, already being able to pick up on her tells after a night of lovemaking.

"Yesssss," Olivia moaned as she felt her orgasm begin to take over, "I'm coming."

Olivia gasped for air as her she rode the waves of her orgasm. Fitz slammed into her and everything went black. Olivia cried out as pleasure filled her body.

If Olivia could form words, she would have protested when Fitz pulled out of her but instead she whimpered. Fitz lifted up just enough to turn Olivia over. He felt a sense of pride at the look of bliss on her face. He was happy that he could put it there.

Fitz kissed her and her eyes fluttered open.

"Hi," he smiled down at her.

"Hi," she breathed out.

Without warning, Fitz entered her again.

"Holy shiiiiit," Olivia moaned.

Fitz kissed her, muffling her screams as he slammed into her. Olivia sucked on his tongue hungrily, pulling his bottom lip in between her teeth, she feasted on his lips until she needed air.

"Fuck," Fitz groaned letting his head fall to the pillow on the side of the Olivia's head.

He grinds into her. Olivia bit his ear and whispered that she was about to come again. He slammed into her and Olivia clenched around him as she came again. His thrust became erratic, and he couldn't hold it anymore and finally released himself inside of her.

They laid together for long moments, catching their breaths and coming down from their post-orgasmic high. After a minute or so, Fitz pulled out of her and rolled over to lay on the side of her.

After a few minutes of silence, Olivia said, "You're really at this."

"What, sex?"

Olivia nodded.

"You're not so bad, yourself," Fitz smiled at her, appreciating the compliment.

Olivia's eyes dropped and she gave him a weak smile.

"I was scared, nervous actually."

Fitz tilted her chin up so she could look at him. He saw uncertainty in her eyes.

Olivia dropped her face.

"I figured you probably had a lot of great sex before. I just wanted to be good for you."

Fitz lift her face so that she could look at him.

"I don't think it was possible that it would be bad."

"You've slept with models and a few groupies in your lifetime. I'm sure you've had way more sexually experienced women than me. Freaky women who will do weird shit because you have money."

Fitz laughed.

"I may have had a few super freaks in my life."

"I haven't. I've had good sex, great sex even but somewhere in the back of my mind I had a slight phobia about sex that has led to me not being as experienced as other women my age. Getting pregnant after only having sex twice kind of messes with your psyche, or at least it did with mine. I thought I was fertile Myrtle. It was you and I didn't have any sex for the first five years of Layla's life. I was on the pill before she was even one. I wasn't taking any chances. I didn't want God to get any ideas."

Fitz let out a loud hearty laugh.

"I'm sorry," he said in between laughs, "I know you're serious but–"

"It's ridiculous," she said.

"No," he quickly shook his head. He didn't want her to feel like her feelings weren't valid. "Only you would try to fix God's plan."

She giggled, "I guess you're right."

"You're so beautiful."

Olivia kissed him.

"You're not too bad yourself."

Fitz pulled her on top of him.

"I could lay here, like this with you forever."

She rested her head in the crook of his neck.

"Hold me tighter."

Fitz wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. They both were going to just enjoy the time that they had left together.

* * *

Olivia felt like such a bad host. Rochelle had been staying with her for a week and a half and Olivia spent of that time either working or with Fitz in person or on the phone. Rochelle never once complained. She was very understanding and even happy for Olivia but Olivia still felt that she was being a bad host. So Olivia opted to spend Rochelle's last few days in the city with her.

The two had planned on going to the amusement park with their children but Olivia's latest case, a friend of Abby's, made it so that the trip to the amusement park never happened.

Somehow their supposed outing with just the two of them and their children turned into a family event with Eli suggested that they go up to Lake Fairfax. Lake Fairfax 476 acre park in Reston, Va. The park included a 20-acre lake with fishing, a water park called _the Water Mine family Swimmin' Hole_ , boat rentals, carousel, athletic fields, picnic areas with grills, a playground, restrooms, campgrounds, trails, and a skate park. It was something for everyone to do.  
Her dad and uncle were fishing while her aunt and Valerie sat in the picnic area. Rochelle and the girls were all enjoying the water slides. Olivia laid on a pool chair, earbuds in tuning the world out. She wasn't really in the mood for a crowded pool experience. She laid there listening to music until she began to doze off.

Olivia felt the person standing over her before she could even get her eyes open. Someone pulled on of her earbuds out of her ear and she kicked at the person as her eye shot open.

Olivia was sure that Fitz couldn't see her eyes through her sunglasses so he had no idea she had been sleep.

"You tried to kick me," Fitz said still holding her foot that he had caught.

"Reflexes," Olivia pulled her foot away, "You woke me up and I didn't know what was going on."

Olivia didn't know how long she had been napping but it was long enough for a song change, maybe multiple song changes.

Fitz lifted her feet and took a seat on the chair with her.

"How can you sleep in a fun place like this?"

Olivia lifted up her sunglasses and let them rest in her hair.

"Easy. Earbuds, shades, and you just lay back and let it happen."

Fitz couldn't take his eyes off of her legs. He wanted to touch them but he was mindful that they were in a public place surrounded by kids of all different ages. He also wanted to respect her boundaries. They hadn't spoke about what those were but knowing that she was taking their relationship slow, he wasn't just going to touch her in public.

"Eyes up, mister."

"I can't help it. You have very amazing legs."

Olivia smiled at him.

"Layla called you?" She asked.

"No, actually your dad invited me."

"Really? He must like you."

"Everyone likes me. I am a very charming and lovable guy."

"Have you seen Layla?"

"Not yet. I left Derek with you dad and uncle. I think they were under the impression that I was going to go fishing. I don't-"

"Bathroom or car," she cut him off.

"What?"

"Bathroom or car," she repeated.

"Car."

"There is a red trashcan by the parking lot that entrance. Go there. I will be there in five minutes. If I'm not there in ten minutes that means something came up or someone came back and I couldn't leave."

"This is so sexy but also very fascinating."

"Go before someone sees you," she lifted her legs so that he could get up.

Fitz wanted to kiss her so badly in the moment but he couldn't. So he did as he was told and head to the red trashcan.

* * *

Twenty minutes later Fitz was walking back into the water park with the stupidest grin on his face. He didn't know if it was the riskiness of having sex in public or just the fact that he was excited to be back with Olivia again but he had never experienced sex like that before. Olivia had just giving him the best ten minutes of his life.

Fitz walked through the park in search of the picnic area where Olivia told them they had set up. He walked through one empty picnic area, and then another. He noticed a couple in the distance. They were in their own little world, and Fitz smiled at young love.

Fitz kept his distance as to not disturb their moment. As he got closer the young couple came into focus. His heart sank when he saw that the girl was his daughter. What appeared to be young love in the distance, now resembled a young man who wanted to die.

Fitz felt an anger rise up in him as he watched this boy touch his daughter. He moved her hair to the side and whispered something in her ear that made Layla giggle. Fitz didn't like the giggle. ' _What the hell is so funny?_ ' Fitz thought.

Fitz watched as the little fucker sat too close to Layla with one hand on her thigh.

' _Why the hell is her bathing suit so little? Is she old enough to be out of one pieces? He wants to die. He is begging me to kill him._ '

Fitz thoughts were getting away from him. To grab his daughter away from this bastard or beat his ass first? What was a new father to a teenage daughter to do?

It was like watching a bad movie play out in front of him. When his hands snaked around her waist and he tickled her side causing her to squirm closer towards him, Fitz had seen enough and decided to make his presence known.

"Layla," Fitz voice surprised all of them. It was forceful but measured.

"Dad!"

There was shock in her voice as the two put distance between themselves.

"What are you doing here?" She asked in a shaky, surprised voice.

"What are you doing here?" He motioned between the two of them, referring to the situation not the location. "Who is this?"

"This is Dante."

Fitz looked at Dante. It was as if he was in a state of shock because he sat there unable to move. Fitz felt good that he was able to instill so much fear into him.

"Did he come here with you?" He asked Layla while still staring down Dante.

"I met him an hour ago," Layla answered honestly.

"Dante..."

"Yes, sir?"

"Why are you still here?"

"I..I..I don't-"

"Run, Dante."

Dante was a smart kid because he didn't have to be told twice. He took off heading in the direction of the water park.

Layla was mortified.

"Seriously?"

Fitz looked at her. Her attitude unfazed him.

"I should be asking you the same thing."

"You overreacted."

"I overreacted? Enlighten me. How am I supposed to act watching my fifteen year old daughter getting felt up by some boy?"

"I wasn't getting felt up. We were sitting here talking."

"His hand was on your thigh and he was whispering in your ears and touching your stomach. You may not know this but he was putting the moves on you. Getting felt up is not always a tit in the hand and an ass in the palm."

Fitz surprised himself because clearly they were about to have their first official blow up but he was not about to back down from her.

Layla rolled her eyes.

"Don't roll your eyes and give me attitude. You are young and a little naive about boys."

"Don't call me naive."

"It's true. You don't even realize the danger you put yourself in letting a stranger from another state who you just met feel you up."

"Isn't that how I got here? My mom let a stranger from another state feel her up," her voice was dripping with sarcasm, "Pot meet kettle."

' _Damn she had a mouth on her_ ,' Fitz thought.

"Your argument is weak. Are you trying to become a teenage mom?"

"You can't get pregnant from talking to someone."

"No you can't but you can get pregnant from being naive and thinking you know it all when you don't know shit. You don't even know when someone is putting the moves on you. You don't even realize that the actions you take, even the harmless ones are not always harmless to other people. You may have been talking and taking it as nothing but what happens next? What happens when this random boy touches in a way that you don't like? What happens when he thinks that because you let him touch you that you want more? Were you ready to speak up for yourself? Do you know how to say no or to tell a boy that you are uncomfortable?"

Fitz watched her demeanor soften. He was getting through to her. He was really good at this dad shit.

"Are you going to tell my mom?"

"Yes."

"We were out in the open. Nothing was going to happen. I was just having fun and talking to a guy that I was never going to see again."

"Okay. Well just explain that to your mom, just like you explained it to me."

* * *

Fitz stared at Olivia as she pulled a piece of steak off of her skewer and popped it into her mouth. He wondered how she could make everything look so sexy. He didn't want to anyone to notice his fixation on her so he looked down at his plate. Moving is potato salad around, he picked up a forkful and put it into his mouth.

He looked up in at the same time as she was putting a cherry tomato in her mouth. It was unintentional on her part but watch the tomato go into her mouth made his dick twitch.

"How do you that?"

"What?"

"Make everything so sexy. Even the simplest of things."

She smiled at him.

"I think you're the only one who thinks that."

Fitz looked down at his plate again.

"We shouldn't be over here alone."

"You can't handle sitting at a table with me?"

"I am very attracted to you and now that we have engaged in sexual activity, it's all I can think about."

"I love your honesty."

Needing to change the subject before their conversation turned explicit, Fitz figured now was the perfect time talk about what happened with Layla earlier.

"Has Layla ever had a boyfriend before?"

Slightly taken aback by the change of subject, Olivia shook her head.

"No. Why'd you ask?"

"Today when I was walking back towards the picnic area and I saw her with some boy. They were really cozy. Like inappropriately cozy."

"She's never been boy crazy. She is more into her activities than boys. Since Layla started high school she has done two things that could be looked at as rebellious but she always has a reason and it's something that she is passionate about so I never got mad about it."

"What did she do?"

"Well one was skipping school to go meet you. The other was she participated in a student walk out."

Fitz was impressed.

"Define cozy," Olivia said.

"His hand was on her thigh. He was whisper in her ear and one time he tickled her on her side so that folded in to him."

"She did what?"

Olivia was surprised by her daughter's behavior. Olivia looked around and for her daughter. When she spotted Layla, Layla had been staring at them. Olivia motioned for her to come over.

"What are you going to say?" Fitz asked.

"I'm going to kill her. I'm not raising a daughter who lets random a random boy feel her up. I know that she is at the age when she gets into boys. But to go from never even having crush to letting some stranger touch her. That is one hell of an escalation that we are going to nip in the bud."

When Layla made it to the table, she said down beside her dad and started immediately.

"Wasn't the beef skewers delicious. I had like four of them. Uncle Ray really good on the grill. I'm going to get him to teach me one day," Layla made an attempt to lead the conversation.

"Have you lost your mind?"

"So you didn't like the skewers?"

Olivia gave Layla a look and Layla knew that it was time to drop the façade.

"In my defense I want say that I got caught up in the moment. Being away from home and waiting in line for the water slide, I met a new friend and at the time I didn't see the problem in talking with someone who I would never see again."

"Do you know how old he was? Where is he from? What's his last name? Was he here alone? With family? Friends?"

"I don't know," Layla answered lowly.

"Layla Grace Pope, I really need you to use your brain and act like I have taught you something over the last fifteen years of your life. You don't go off alone with boys especially boys who you don't know. It's a big ass park. What if he suggested that guys take a hike and then you went missing or more friends of his appeared out of nowhere and you got attacked?"

Layla didn't say anything and Olivia didn't need her too.

"I don't know what has gotten into you lately but for some reason you think that you are grown. You're not. If you wouldn't behave in a certain way at home or around me, then don't do it."

Watching Olivia chastise Layla, Fitz felt slightly guilty about bringing this up now. He knew that it was necessary, everything that Layla was hearing was for her own good but it still wasn't something he enjoyed watching.

"We're not done talking about this," Olivia said ending her reprimand.

Layla nodded and stood.

"Give me your phone and apologize to him," Olivia motioned towards Fitz. Layla and Fitz stared at Olivia and Olivia said, "I know you, Layla. I know that you said something out of line while you were trying to talk your way out of it. You test him way more than you test me because he's nice since he is still getting use to the parenting thing. That stops today. Talk to him like you would talk to me. Now apologize."

"I'm sorry for disrespecting you with my words and actions," Layla said sincerely.

"Apology accepted."

Layla walked away. When she was a safe distance away and Fitz was sure she couldn't hear him, he turned to Olivia.

"I know that it shouldn't have been but that was sexy as hell."

Olivia laughed.

"You really got in there."

"She is a good kid. She's just that age," Olivia sighed, "I'm glad you're here."

Fitz smiled at her, his heart warming at her words.

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

* * *

Olivia Pope had a commanding presence. No matter the size of the room, she could grab and hold your attention. She was skilled in many areas but she excelled in coming up with strategies to help her clients out of sticky situations. Olivia had formed a hard shell when it came to working, she had to with all the back alley deals she had been a part of. She was no nonsense and made the hard decisions that no one wanted to make. Olivia had earned the title _the formidable Olivia Pope_ for a reason. But as she sat in front of her client Karen King, Olivia felt like she was going to break.

Karen King was a successful attorney whose life work was spent doing activism for women's right. She worked with nonprofits that helped women in abusive relationships get the help they needed to get away. Karen King was one of the good guys. She didn't serve the shit storm that was about to come her way.

Abby had recommended Olivia to Karen after someone linked her to a long list of women who had slept with a local senator. Karen was one on a growing list that at the moment consisted of twelve women that the senator had cheated on his wife with. Karen's story was being picked up because she had an eight year old daughter and their supposed affair matched the time frame that would make senator Edgar Allen the father of Karissa King.

This case was personal to Olivia because Karen was a friend of Abby's and as a mother herself, Olivia knew the need to protect your child. She was not about to let eight year old Karissa get lost in all of this.

Olivia required her that all her clients be completely honest with her. She could not help them if she did not know all of the facts. The facts of Karen's case was that Edgar Allen was the father of Karissa but not because they had an affair. Karen was a young, fresh out of college twenty eight year old when she went to work at Edgar Allen's office. She loved her job but hated that he always flirted with her and tried to make passes with her. It was an amazing opportunity so she stayed at the job for two years. It turned out to be one of the worse mistakes of her life because one night while working late, Edgar had sexually assaulted her.

Karen was paid one hundred thousand dollars as hush money and giving a great bonus when she quit. She had never came forward because she worried about her career. Then she found out she was pregnant and her life became all about her child. She spent the last seven years working on women's rights issues and helping with who were the victims of domestic abuse and sexual violence. Her whole life's work has been to help women because she felt like she couldn't help herself without ruining her reputation.

"So you're telling me that my options are to be known as a young slut who slept with a married man and got pregnant or have my daughter be know that she is a product of rape?"

Olivia nodded.

"I know that this is a tough decision for you. Either way, we can spin this."

"How? My daughter is either going to see me as a slut or a hypocrite. Either I can't keep my skirt down or I'm a coward for not standing up for myself."

"You are neither. You are a woman who was in an impossible situation."

"I was a coward. I took the money. I took the money because I felt like at least I was getting something for getting fucked. I was getting something and I was going to be able to live as I healed. I sold my soul to the devil and now I am paying for it."

"You did nothing wrong. You weren't a coward, he was. He took advantage of you and countless other women. He abused his power and he should pay for what he has done."

"She is just a little girl. This is going to break her. Not knowing who your father is, is bad enough without finding out that you were a mistake that was never supposed to happen."

Olivia understood more than Karen would ever know. She sympathized with her and without getting too personal, Olivia decided to share with Karen.

"I'm going to share something with you and I never share. But I sympathize with you because our situations are similar but very different. I have a daughter who recently met her father. I had a fling with a guy while on vacation before I started college. I got pregnant and I took care of my daughter by myself because I was scared and in denial. Recently they met each other and have be working on their relationship. It was hard. My daughter hated me when she found out. I've made some terrible decisions in my life but everything that I have done since becoming a mother was with my daughter in mind," Olivia stated, "It will hurt. This will get messy and be really bad but your daughter has you. This will not break her. I won't let it."

Karen looked at Olivia.

"You think that I should tell the truth?"

"Yes. The truth is that a young career women was raped. Fearing what this could potentially do to her and her career, she took money and left her job. She became pregnant as a result of her rape and has worked tirelessly for the last seven years to help women and children who were also the victims of physical and sexual abuse. You are a hero, Karen. You are a strong, powerful woman," Olivia looked her directly in her eye, "I can't lie to you and say that this will be easy. The media are vultures. The internet is full of cowards who hide behind screen names and troll and spread hate. Your darkest secrets will begin to come to light. People will say awful things about you and your daughter. But you have the truth on your side. The truth is what will endure you. It will keep your career in tact and Karissa will see you as a strong, amazing, brave woman."

"I'm not ready for all of this."

"I know. I don't think anyone can ever truly be ready for a media storm. The story is going to come out. The only thing we can do is get ahead of it."

"You want me to do an interview?"

"You have to. You have to get out ahead of this and tell your story before the press gets a chance to make of their own version of what happened."

Seeing the worry on Karen's face, Olivia quickly added, "I will prep you. It will be an exclusive interview on primetime the day before the news is supposed to break."

Karen didn't respond immediately. Olivia knew that she was processing everything. Her world was about to fall apart.

"Okay. I trust you. Whatever you think is best. I'll do it."

* * *

"How was your day?"

"Horrible."

"Why? What happened?"

"It's just work stuff," Olivia said.

She tried to downplay it but Fitz could sadness in her voice.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"About work?"

"Yeah."

"You do know what I do for a living, right?"

"I do."

"No one ever asks me about work."

"Really? Why is there some unwritten rule that says no one can ask you about your day at work?"

"I guess there is. Most people know that since I fix messes and stop potential scandals that work talk is off limits."

"That sucks."

"That's life."

"Do you have a therapist?"

"Do you think I need one?"

"No. It's just, I guess I'm thinking that your job has to get to you sometimes. The things you know, the secrets you have to keep, and it has to be exhausting."

"Surprisingly, I'm really good at keeping it together. I don't get emotionally attached. I learned early on that there is no place for emotions in business, especially the DC politics business."

"Everyone needs someone to talk to though. If you hold it in, you are going to explode."

"I'm going to talk to wine and homemade pizza."

"I'm coming over."

"Okay," there was a smile in Olivia's voice. "Layla will like that."

"You will like that."

"I'm hanging up."

"See you in a little bit."

Olivia ended the call and finished setting out everything for her homemade pizza.

Layla looked at the spread on the kitchen island. Flatbread, chicken breast, Italian sausage, mushrooms, broccoli, spinach, tomato, mozzarella cheese, olives, roasted red peppers, and pesto sauce covered the space. Layla could tell that her mother must have had a bad day at work. She wasn't aware if her mother noticed it or not but every time something stressful happened at work or she felt like she was going to lose a case, Olivia cooked, a lot, way more than the two of them could eat.

"You've really outdone yourself, mom."

Olivia shrugged, "I was craving pizza."

"We're not going to be able to finish all of this."

"Your dad's coming so we'll be fine. Any leftovers, I can bring to the office tomorrow, maybe you can have lunch with grandpa."

"I think I'm going to eat in my room."

"Why?"

"I don't feel well."

"What's wrong?"

"My head hurts so I'm just going to take a little to eat and go sleep it off."

"Be honest. What's wrong?"

"I'm not in the mood to be around my dad."

"Why?"

"I keep embarrassing myself in front of him and I just don't want to face him right now. If I don't see him again until I go back to school that would be great."

"You don't mean that."

"Maybe I don't but I keep thinking about the park and how mortified that I am and I just can't be around him right now."

"He loves you. There is nothing that you can do to change that."

"Please mom," Layla said meekly.

"I can tell him not to come."

"No. Don't do that."

"He's coming over to spend time with you."

Layla sighed.

"Stay. We'll see how things go. If something feels awkward for you just pull me to the side and we can talk about it or you can go upstairs if you want."

"Okay," Layla reluctantly agreed.

"You worry too much because of me but I promise you, things will be great."


	11. Someone New

**Someone New**

" _There's an art to life's distractions, to somehow escape the burning weight, the art of scraping through. Some like to imagine the dark caress of someone else, I guess any thrill will do. Would things be easier if there was a right way? Honey, there is no right way. And so I fall in love just a little, oh a little bit every day with someone new. I fall in love just a little, oh a little bit every day with someone new. I fall in love just a little, oh a little bit every day with someone new. I fall in love just a little, oh a little bit every day with someone new._ "—Hozier

* * *

"I brought ice cream," were the first words Fitz said when Olivia opened the door. "If I remember correctly butter pecan is your favorite."

"It is," she quickly pulled him to the side, "Layla is a little embarrassed about what happened at the park. She feels like she keeps embarrassing herself in front of you so she is a little scared about facing you right now. I convinced her to eat with us and told her that everything will be fine."

"O..kay," Fitz didn't expect that to be the first thing she said to him. "I honestly wasn't thinking about what happened at the park after that day."

"I know that but she wants to make a good impression with you and she feels like she is failing to do so."

"Why are women like this? You guys overthink and overanalyze everything."

Olivia stared at him.

"I didn't mean it like that," Fitz quickly said.

"She is a teenage girl. This is still fairly new to her. I think she is still getting used to having two parents around."

"Do mind if I talk to her?"

"Sure. Go right ahead."

Fitz walked down the hall and headed into the kitchen.

"Hey."

"Hello."

"I have to go to California for a few days. Would you like to come with me?"

"Did my mom tell you to ask me that?"

"No."

Layla didn't believe him and it was written all over her face.

"She told me that you were embarrassed about what happened at the park and you didn't want to see him."

"Figures," Layla sighed, "I guess this is what it is like to have two parents. You guys don't keep anything to yourselves."

"This is what co-parenting looks like."

"Great," she said stoically.

"What's really problem here?"

"There is no problem."

"What happened to we always start with the truth? Does that not apply to you?"

She stared at him for a moment and Fitz met her gaze.

"I don't want you to think I'm a bad person," she finally admitted.

"The thought never even crossed my mind."

"My mom talks to me all the time about boys and sex and teenage pregnancies. We had all the STD talks, and every other talk you need to have with your teenager around the time I got my first period. I know all the risk and I know what I was doing was wrong but I did it anyway. I just acted without thinking and it was freeing and exciting to just be in the moment. I knew that I would never see him again so I didn't see the harm in having a little fun."

"Everyone's idea of fun is not the same. Someone else's idea of fun can get you in a lot of trouble or worse, you could get hurt."

"I am well aware of that now. My mom detailed to me how a person can get kidnapped in broad daylight. I don't know how she knows in such great detail but I'm not trying to find out either."

"Your mom has a very complex life."

Fitz wanted to bring home his point about fun being different for everyone, so he said, "I got arrested when I was sixteen."

Layla found his statement random but she decided to bite.

"For what?"

"Stealing a car."

"You stole a car?"

"No," he shook his head, "There was this kid named Greg who I had a few classes with. We never hung out outside of school but I considered him a friend. One day he pulled up on me and Derek as we were walking home from school. He offered us a ride home and we took. Something felt off to me because it was really nice car but I knew him from school and he seemed cool so I ignored every red flag and got in the car. He didn't take us home. We ended up at the mall instead. Greg brought a lot of stuff. We were on our way home when we got pulled over by the cops. The car had been reported stolen so we all got arrested."

"I would have fought Greg."

"Can you fight?"

"You've met my grandfather and uncles. Uncle Frankie had me in boxing gloves when I was four. I can handle myself."

"Good to know."

"Back to the story. What happened when you got arrested?"

"We were lucky. It turns out Greg stole the car from his dad. His dad wasn't pressing charges so we all had to call our parents to pick us up. That was not fun at all. Greg's dad took him. Derek's mom came. My dad took two hours and when he finally got there, he told me I was staying for the weekend. I thought he was joking. He was not."

"You spent the weekend in jail?"

"I did. My dad knew that I knew better than to get in that car. He told me straight up that he was teaching me a lesson on how to use my common sense. He was showing me that every action comes with a consequence."

"Did it work?"

Fitz nodded.

"It really taught me to listen to my inside voice. If I have reservations or doubts about something, I don't do it."

"I see lesson you are trying to teach me with your story and I hear you. I'm taking it all in but it's just lately I've realized that I don't want to become my mom."

Olivia knew that she shouldn't have been listening to their conversation but she wanted to make sure her daughter was okay. Despite her knowing Fitz wouldn't hurt Layla on purpose, it was Olivia's maternal instinct to protect her daughter. When Olivia heard Layla say that didn't want to become her, she felt a little hurt. It was probably her punishment for eavesdropping. Olivia wanted to hear more of what Layla had to say but she pulled herself away from her spot in the hallway to give them the space they needed to talk.

"She lives her life trying to be perfect. Trying to make up for the mistake she made by having me."

"You're not a mistake, unplanned but not a mistake."

"Mistake, unplanned, whatever you want to call it. I'm not saying it in a bad way. I know she loves me more than anything in this world but I sometimes think of how different her life would have been if she had me later. If you have not noticed, my mother can be very tightly wound. I don't want to be like that. I don't want to be scared to live life. I don't want to be perfect. I want to allow myself to make mistakes and take risk. If I hadn't skipped school and took a risk, I would have never met you."

He smiled at her.

"There are plenty of ways to live life without putting yourself in dangerous situations. If you know something is wrong but you do it anyway, that's just stupid and reckless. I haven't known you a long time but you've never came off as someone who lacks intelligence."

"I've learned my lesson. You guys don't have to worry about me doing anything like this ever again."

"That's what I like to hear," Fitz pulled her into a half hug, "I would hate to have to kill some young boy."

"Are you going to be one of those overprotective dads?"

"I most certainly am."

* * *

Olivia had a lot on her mind and that led to her being pretty quiet throughout dinner. She opted out of eating ice cream and watching TV with Layla and Fitz. Instead she was doing a massive cleaning of her kitchen. Cleaning and organizing always helped her to clear her mind because it was simple work with little to no thought involved.

She was finishing up the last dish in the sink when she felt Fitz's hands on her.

"Are you ready to talk about what's stressing you?"

Olivia flinched under touch and pulled away from him.

"Is something wrong?"

"Layla is here," was all she said.

"Right," Fitz backed away from her and moved on the other side of the island, putting some distance in between them.

"Layla says you cook and clean a lot when you are stressed."

"It is very calming for me to organize. It brings order in the midst of chaos."

"It's not good to hold things in."

Olivia shut off the water and she turned to face him.

"Did you miss your calling as a therapist?"

"Nope. I'm just a really good listener."

"I think you have dealt with enough Pope women emotions for one evening."

"You have a problem with sharing don't you?"

"No. People don't really care about or want to hear your woes. Your problems are your problems so handle that shit on your own or you hire someone like me to fix them for you."

"I see. This is one of those the counselor can't go to counseling type of situations. The fixer can't be fixed or helped or show any sign of vulnerability."

"Don't patronize me."

"I'm not. I'm just a listening ear to help you unwind and release some of that stress."

"I'm sorry," Olivia quickly apologized. She realized that he was really trying to help and she didn't want to take her stress out on him.

"It's a lot on me right with this case that I'm working on and realizing that Layla will probably hate me forever doesn't help things."

The last part of her statement helped Fitz make a connection.

"You listened didn't you? You heard what Layla said."

"Partially. I walked away after she said she didn't want to become like me. I wanted to listen but I was scared to hear what she really thinks about me."

"She thinks that you're tightly wound and afraid to live life."

"She said that?"

Fitz nodded.

"She knows that you love her more than anything in the world but she sometimes wonders how different your life would have been if you had her later," Fitz repeated the words that Layla had told him earlier.

"My life would be the same. Why does she even think about that?"

"I guess she assumes that your fear of living life is because the one time you threw caution to the wind and lived a little, you came out of that summer with a kid. I mean you did say that you went five years without sex after getting pregnant," he hesitated before adding, "You have to forgive yourself that. You can't live your life as a penance for having a kid before you planned to."

"I'm not trying to. I've always been like this. I come from a big family. I was the youngest of all my cousins and very shy. I wasn't a boy so I didn't automatically have a seat at the big boys table like Jordan. I wasn't a strong leader like Mariah. I wasn't pretty and outgoing like Rochelle. I felt ugly and awkward as a kid so the best way to standout was to excel academically. It also didn't help that my father was in the marines and he is very strict. From a very young age he beat the idea of the black tax into my head."

"What is the black tax?"

"Black people have to work twice as hard to even attempt to be on an equal playing field as white people."

"In your experience, do you find that to be true?"

"Yeah," Olivia nodded, "I once had a client greet one of my employees first assuming that the tall slender white woman was the one in charge."

"That was just ignorant."

"That's the world we live in. Did you know that only fifteen black executives have ever made it on to the Fortune 500 list?"

Fitz shook his head.

"Currently five black CEOs are on the list, representing 1% of the Fortune 500's top leadership. Of those five, only one is a woman. Her name is Ursula Burns and she became the first black woman to head a Fortune 500 company in 2009. Even with working hard the playing fields are never actually equal."

"I can see why you're stressed but you have to take some of that weight from the world off of your shoulders."

"That's easier said than done. I'm an overachiever and I have a lot to prove."

"Why? Who are you trying to prove something to?"

"Everyone. When my family found out that I was pregnant, I never heard the end of it. I hid my pregnancy from everyone accept my roommate. One day my dad showed up at my dorm room because he hadn't seen me in a while. When he saw me, I was seven months pregnant. He laid into me and told me how disappointed he was in me for spreading my legs and being stupid enough to get pregnant."

Fitz cringed at words.

"He pulled me out of school, brought me home, and he didn't speak again until the day my water broke. My relationship with my mother was completely shot to shit after I had Layla. She didn't even find out I was pregnant until two days after Layla was born. She thought that I had shut her out, so still to this day, she always has something smart to say. She has constantly reminded me over the years how much of a failure and bad mom that I am for having a child and not knowing who the father is. Needless to say we don't have a relationship. We tolerate each other in five or ten minute intervals whenever Nick or Layla brings us together."

"I'm sorry that you had to go through that."

"Don't be. My dad is the parent that matters and our relationship is great."

"Your mom sounds like she is a handful but as someone who lost their mother, I have ask. How do you prioritize one parent over the other?"

"My parents got divorce when I was twelve. When I was eleven, my mom just up and left. She didn't talk to me. She didn't ask me if I want to go with her. She just up and moved with her boyfriend and left me behind. Then she moved all the way across the country. My dad was the primary parent. He raised me. He was there for everything; first period, eighth grade graduation, first day of high school, first day of college. He helped me pay for college. He has always been consistent and there for me. Even though he was disappointed and had harsh words when he found out I was pregnant, he apologized and got over any feelings he had the moment he saw her."

Listening to Olivia talk about her dad made Fitz smile. He could tell by the way that she talked about him, how important he was to her. Despite everything that she had to go through raising Layla by herself, Fitz was happy that she had someone who was there for her.

"I never talk about work with anyone."

Fitz sensed a ' _but_ ' coming so he said nothing and just waited for her to continue.

"Whatever I say does not leave this kitchen."

Fitz nodded and Olivia continued, "My friend Abby works for me and she brought this case to me because the client is someone really close to her. My client is an attorney and she runs a nonprofit for women who are the victim of domestic violence and sexual abuse. She has spent her whole career fighting for women's rights. She is very important person. Her name was on a list of women who had slept with this married senator. Her name is being picked up because of who she is and because she has an eight year old daughter that meets the timeline of the supposed affair with the senator."

"Did she have an affair this senator?"

"No."

"So if she never had an affair with him and the kid isn't his, isn't it just a matter of doing a DNA test. Or just having the kids father come forward," Fitz paused, realizing that if he could come up with a simple solution that it had to be much bigger than what Olivia was telling him.

"There is more to this, isn't there?"

"When my client was fresh out of college she worked for the senator. He made her uncomfortable because he flirted with her but she stayed at the job because it was an amazing opportunity for her career. She worked for him for two years and one night he sexually assaulted her. She never reported the rape because it would have been career suicide. She couldn't work with him anymore so she took one hundred thousand dollars in hush money and was given a great bonus when she quit. Later she found out that she was pregnant."

"Jesus Christ! That's horrible."

"She has an eight year old daughter. Her options are basically to lie and admit to an affair that she didn't have to spare her child of knowing that her father is a rapist or tell the truth and her whole life and career dragged through the mud. I'm supposed to fix this but knowing that she is Abby's friend and with me being a mom, I sympathize with her need to protect her daughter. It clouding my judgement."

"What's the worst case scenario?"

"If she lies and admits to an affair that she didn't have, she is a whore who slept her way to the top. If she tells the truth, she is a slut who was asking for it. There is no good that can come from either side of this."

"You can't believe that."

"Anita Hill," she said simply, "Her name was dragged through the mud in those hearings. They didn't care about the truth. All they cared about was protecting Clarence Thomas and they tried to shame and discredit Anita for coming forward and speaking up about what happened to her."

Fitz could see why Olivia was so stressed. If situations similar to this was the norm for her work like, he didn't know how she could do her job. It all sounded so bleak and depressing. He knew that there were dirty politicians out there but to know that there was a senator out there who sexually assaulted someone was disgusting. Here this man was supposed to be helping people but he just took advantage of women.

"There has to be more woman," Fitz said absentmindedly.

"What?"

"Your client was sexually assaulted. What if the senator sexually assaulted someone else? Maybe someone on the list or someone not on the list," Fitz rambled. "I'm just thinking that if he raped someone and got away with it, who is to say that your client is the only one?"

Olivia stared at him.

"But I'm sure you already thought of that," he said, shutting down his own idea. "What?" He asked when he noticed her staring at him.

"I've been so focused on my client and getting ahead of this that I didn't even consider looking into other victims."

Olivia grabbed her phone off of the counter and walked over to Fitz.

"That is a brilliant idea," she grabbed his face and placed a kiss on his lips, "Thank you."

Fitz didn't recognize his own voice when he said, "You're welcome."

The smile on Olivia's face told him that Olivia heard the change in his voice. She stepped away from him as she started calling someone.

"Huck, I need you to look into the senator's finances. Go back twenty years…" Olivia's voice faded as walked down the hall.

* * *

Layla knocked on her mother's bedroom door before peeking her head in.

"Mom," she whispered into the dark. She waited for a response and then called her again.

"What," came Olivia's sleepy voice.

Layla didn't respond with words, she just walked in and got in her mother's bed.

"What's wrong?"

"I wanted to sleep with you," she said simply.

Olivia couldn't see Layla in the dark but she knew that there was more to this than just her daughter wanting to sleep to her.

"What's going on?" Olivia sat up and turned on the light.

"I can't just want to sleep with you?"

"You can but there is more to this. What is it?"

Layla hesitated for a moment before asking, "Is there something going on between you and dad?"

Olivia wasn't expecting that question but she responded quickly with a question of her own, "Something like what?"

"I don't know. I think he has feelings for you. You act different around him. You guys seem different around each other lately."

 _Was she that noticeable?_ Olivia was normally good at masking her feelings.

"Different how?"

"Why are you avoiding my question?"

"I'm not. I'm just trying to understand where this is coming from."

"I told you, you're different around him. I watch you two together. He looks at you like you put the stars in the sky. You're always blushing around him. You are a little more relaxed around him."

"There is nothing going on," Olivia lied.

Layla tried to read her mother's expression but she couldn't.

"Is there anything else you want to ask?"

"No."

There was so much more that Layla wanted to ask but she had strong feeling that her mother was not telling her the truth. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but something was going on with her parents, and she planned on getting to the bottom of it.

* * *

Fitz looked at the different plaques on the walls of Duke Ellington School of the Arts. He read bios on past students to pass the time as he waited for Liz to arrive. With school starting next month, Fitz had a meeting with Liz North to work on lesson plans and find out all that he needed to do to actually teach these kids.

"I'm sorry I'm late," Liz said as she rushed in, "I got stopped by a parent on my way in. Amazing woman but she can really talk about her daughter."

Liz fumbled with her keys and Fitz reached out and grabbed her bag from her.

"Thanks."

Liz unlocked her office door and grabbed her bag from Fitz. The two walked in and Fitz took a seat as she got herself settled.  
"How is your summer going so far?"

"It's been great. And yours?"

"Same. I actually got to take a vacation this year."

"Where did you go?"

"I went down to Florida to spend some time with my parents. My daughter loved it because to her Florida means Disney World."

The two continued to make small talk, playing catch up as she unpacked her bag and took a seat.

"I've been thinking and I'm going to let you take the lead. I'll just be here for whatever questions you might have."

Fitz what had changed? Liz wanted to run the music program so bad that she had put up a fuss since it was announced that he was going to be running the program. The whole point of Fitz allowing her to take the lead was so that he wasn't stepping on any toes.

"Are you sure? I know you really wanted to run the program."

"I think the kids will benefit more from you experience verses mine."

' _She must have had a really good summer_ ,' Fitz thought. They didn't leave on bad terms but this was the nicest she had been to him since they met.

"Do you have any ideas on what your first week is going to look like? You meet with the kids four times a week for two hours a day. Friday is a free study day so the kids can study or come to your office hours."

"I have an office?"

"Yeah. I'll show you where we are setting you up when we're done. First week, what are you doing?"

"I want to see what the students know so I was thinking of having them pair up and work on an original song."

"In the first week?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Liz wrote something down on a legal pad.

"Do you advise against it?"

"No. I think it could be perceived as a bit much but you are trying to pick out the kids' strengths and weaknesses so it can work," she didn't look up from the notes she was taking, "Are you going to actually have the kids record the songs?"

"No. They're just going to perform the songs in front of the class. I want to see what they come up with and then I can work from there. I won't have plan until I can see what they know."

Liz continued to take notes.

"The second Monday of September is back to school night. It's from six to eight. You get to meet the parents again. It's been a long summer so some may have questions about the curriculum or just new questions from the first time that you met with some of them. If you want we can meet early Monday to go over whatever plan you come up with after hearing the kids work."

"Yeah, I'd appreciate that."

"If you have problems coming up with a plan, you can always call me and we can just work it out together. I have more knowledge on the academic side and you have the knowledge on the music side and we can use that to better help each other and the students."

"It looks like we're going to make a really good team."

"The best team," she smiled at him, "The kids are really lucky to have you."

Liz's voice had changed and it didn't go unnoticed by Fitz. He didn't want to think too much into it so he chose not to say anything.

"Let me show you to your office," Liz stood up and walked around her desk. "I have a feeling you're going to love it," Liz squeezed his forearm.

Fitz knew then that he had not been imagining things. Liz was flirting with him. This could not end well.

* * *

Layla was glad that she had decided to come with his dad on his weekend trip. They flew overnight to Los Angeles. After dropping their bags off and taking showers, they went to breakfast. After breakfast they headed to a studio. From the moment they arrived, Layla watched her dad as he worked. She had so many questions she wanted to ask but she didn't. Layla was silently soaking up his process and learning so much.

Fitz was aware of her watching him. He had waited for her to ask a question but when she didn't, he came up with plan to get her involved.

Fitz turned in his seat, staring at her for a moment before asking, "Do you know how to read sheet music?"

Layla nodded.

"I want you to play something for me," Fitz handed her his iPad.

Layla looked down at the screen and then back up at him.

"You've been playing the piano since you were four, right? Come on. Get up and play the song."

She stood up and walked over to the piano. She set up the tablet in front of her, taking a long moment to look at the screen before she started playing.

Fitz didn't take his eyes off of her as she played. Listening to her play the piano, Fitz knew that she was not aware of how extremely talented to she was. She had true gift and if she wanted, Layla could have an amazing music career.

"That was beautiful," he said when she was finish playing.

"Thank you," she handed him back his iPad. "What are you working on?" She asked, finally feeling comfortable enough to ask a question.

"I'm putting the finishing touches on a song that has to be finished by next week if it is going to make Andy's album."

Fitz was already working on something else on his laptop.

"Who's Andy?"

"Andra Day. She is a new artist getting ready to release her first album. I produced and co-wrote song that's going to be on the album. We're going to record the final version today."

Layla was glad that he was busy typing away at his computer and totally missed the goofy grin that appeared on her face. To actually get to sit in the studio and watch the final version of a song be made was exciting and Layla could barely contain herself.

Fitz hit a button on his computer and the instrumental song started playing.

It took a second of listening to the music for Layla to recognize the song that she was just playing.

"Is that me?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yeah," Fitz nodded proudly, "This is the final instrumental for the song we will be recording today."

She didn't hear him correctly. Was he trying to tell her that her playing the piano was going to be on someone's album?

Seeing that she was clearly in shock, Fitz asked her if she wanted to see the song lyrics. Layla couldn't form words so she just nodded. She took a seat next to him and he pulled up lyrics on his laptop. She read the lyrics as she listened to the instrumental play.

" _You're broken down and tired of living life on a merry-go-round. And you can't find the fighter but I see it in you so we gonna walk it out and move mountains. We gonna walk it out and move mountains. And I'll rise up. I'll rise like the day. I'll rise up. I'll rise unafraid. I'll rise up. And I'll do it a thousand times again. And I'll rise up. High like the waves. I'll rise up. In spite of the ache. I'll rise up. And I'll do it a thousand times again_ ," Layla sang along with lyrics.

Fitz smiled at her as he watched her dissect the song in all of its parts. She was truly his daughter, even down to the way she tilted her head slightly to the left as she was listening to music. Fitz was simply in awe of her.

"This is a beautiful song," Layla said. She was extremely excited to see how this final version came out.

"You made it beautiful."

Layla couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face even if she wanted to.

"This is amazing. I can't believe this is what you get to do for work."

"Sometimes I can't believe it either."

"Can I ask you a question?"

Fitz nodded, hitting a button and turning down the music.

"I know I'm not supposed to ask this but how much money do you have? I'm only asking because I never considered being a musician as something that I could actually do. No offense but I always thought of being a musician as one of those starving artist type of jobs. I also hear a lot that most money that the artist make is from touring. You don't tour but you have a private jet and multiple homes. You are clearly not starving. You have enough money to take off of work and teach for a year. I'm just curious."

The way she rambled sometimes when she talked reminded Fitz of Olivia. It was adorable when both of them did it.

"My net worth is thirty eight million."

"Dollars?"

Her voice gave away how shocked she was. Fitz smiled and nodded.

"Oh my God. You're loaded."

"I do alright."

"You're doing more than alright. I thought you were going to say something like seven or ten million but thirty eight million. How do you do it? Explain this to me because you always hear about artist getting ripped off or having to rent all of their things because they are secretly broke. How did you become a multimillionaire?"

"The music business can be hard if you're not a touring artist but I make a lot of my money outside of record labels because I'm not signed as an artist. This didn't happen overnight. It took ten years of work to get here. I did A&R for a few years before I signed a production deal. I got to write and produce for a bunch of artist and then I eventually put out my own work. I wrote and produced some hits that were featured in movies and TV shows. I saved about sixty percent of the money that I made from touring. I have investments. I'm co-owner of a restaurant in Las Vegas. It also helps that I am the only child from an upper middle class family. I have a trust fund that I have never touched. I'm just really good at saving and investing."

"Why aren't you a signed artist? Did you sign a bad deal? Get dropped?"

"No. I had a pretty good career writing and producing for other artists. I wanted to try my hand at doing music so I signed on to make one album. I did and it was successful. The record label wanted me to do another album but I declined."

"Why?"

"I got to tour the world and it was an amazing three years but I missed home and the stability that came with having a home. I missed my dad and our weekends that I would come stay with him. When you're on the road and different place every night, sleeping in hotels, and tour buses, you start to miss the simple things. Going on the road seems amazing until you realize that you're not in a city long enough to explore it. You end up traveling on autopilot most of the times."

"You are a really cool, simple, and wise man."

"Thank you," he said with smile. There was this feeling of pride that his teenage daughter thought that he was cool.

A knock on the door stopped their conversation. The door opened and a very beautiful young woman walked in.

"Hey," Fitz stood and greeted the woman with a hug. When he pulled away, Fitz introduced the two, "Andy, this is my daughter Layla. Layla this is Andra Day."

"It's a pleasure to meet you," Layla stood to shake her hand. Layla didn't know why she was being so formal but Andra was nice about it.

"Nice to meet you too," she sat her things down. "Is this the song?"

"Yeah," Fitz turned it up.

Layla quietly watched Andra as she listened to the music. Nerves had Layla frozen in place. She wanted to know what Andra thought of the song since she was actually playing on it.

"I love it," Andra said when the song stopped playing.

"Whenever you're ready just go in there and do your thing."

Andra grabbed her things and headed into the booth.

"She loved it," Layla squealed when she was sure that Andra couldn't hear her.

Seeing her excitement made Fitz happy.

"Sit down. We're going to make a song."

* * *

"Where did you find this place?" Layla asked before stuffing another nacho chip in her mouth.

Layla had an amazing day. She did

It was her first night in California and after spending the day in the studio, Layla was out for dinner at a very casual restaurant with her dad and grandfather. The three of them looked a little out of place in the crowd of what looked like mostly college students and young adults.

"It's been around for a while. It opened up when I was a freshmen in college."

"Is this you reliving your glory days?"

"No."

"We kind of look a little out of place. Everyone here looks like they are in college."

"People of all ages come here but Friday's are open mic nights so a younger crowd comes in. Some to perform and some to just be entertained."

"Have you ever performed here?"

"Once," Fitz smiled at the memory he had of his onetime performing here, "This is actually the place where I met your mother."

"So this is where the magic happened? This is where you put all your best moves to win my mother's heart."

"I wouldn't say all of that."

"Don't be modest, son," Jerry chuckled. "I would say that this is the place that Olivia put the moves on him. Did he tell you about the matching tattoos and giving your mother his great-grandmother's ring?"

"No, I never heard about either one of those things," Layla looked at Fitz, "Spill it."

"There is nothing to spill. Olivia and I have matching tattoos and I gave her a piece of jewelry as a going away present."

"You didn't just give her jewelry, you gave her a family heirloom. That's serious."

"I was so mad at him. Little did I know he considered Olivia to be the love of his life."

Fitz stared at his dad, wondering why he decided to say that.

"I can tell. I think something is going on now between them but my mom says there is nothing," she threw that out there to see Fitz's reaction.

Fitz took a sip of his drink and said nothing.

"Trust your gut. If you feel something, I'm sure there is something. Your dad was head over heels for your mom."

Fitz eyes narrowed as he stared at his dad.

"He is not denying it," she pointed out.

"There is nothing to deny. I'm focusing on being a dad."

"And you're doing a really good job," she said, deciding not to pry any further.

Fitz tipped his glass to her, acknowledging her compliment. He was glad that he was failing at his new role of dad.

"How does open mic night work? Is there a sign in sheet or something?" Layla changed the subject. She still wanted to find out what was going on with her parents but for now she was dropping hints to see how her dad reacted. Her mother had told her nothing was going on but she still had to ask her father. Now was not the time for that conversation so she was tabling it.

"Are you thinking about getting on stage?" Jerry asked, more because he was interested in seeing her perform. He had heard how talented she was from Fitz and he wanted to see for himself.

"Yeah, actually I am."

Layla never performed in front of a crowd but after spending the most of the day in the studio with her dad watching music be made, she felt inspired and energized. She felt like she could perform in a crowded room full of strangers with no fear. She knew that she could sing so why not give it a try.

"There is a ballot you fill out and when it's time the owner introduces. You just get up there kill it."

Fitz looked around for the owner of the place. When he spotted her, he stood and walked over to her. He got a ballot form and walked back to the table.

"This is going to be my first time singing in front of a crowd," Layla was excited and nervous at the same time, "I hope I don't regret this."

She filled out the form and handed it back to Fitz.

"Own your fear. If you are nervous because this is your first time performing, tell the crowd that. They will love the honesty and appreciate what you have to share more because you were vulnerable with them."

Layla nodded, taking his advice in. Fitz returned the form to the owner.

"Are you crowd testing a new artist?" Diana, the owner of the restaurant asked.

"No. It's my daughter's first time singing in front of a crowd."

"Daughter? When did that happen?"

"Fifteen years ago."

"You always surprise me, Fitz."

Fitz refrained from saying how it was a surprise to him too.

"She is a little nervous."

"If she is your kid she has nothing to worry about," she handed him a ticket, "Open mic starts in about fifteen minutes. She's number six so she'll most likely be hitting the stage in forty five minutes."

"Thanks."

Fitz returned to their table. Layla was completely in the zone. She had her headphones in and was totally lost in her phone.

"She's been like this since you walked away."

Jerry was studying his granddaughter as she was preparing to go on stage.

"She is so much like you. Her process of getting prepared, the zoning out, even the head tilt."

"I've noticed. It's surreal sometimes to watch her. Her mannerism, I see so much of me in her."

Fitz and Jerry talked and ate as Layla worked on her song.

Time seemed to pass by rather quickly. Layla was acutely aware that her time to get the piano notes for the song she wanted to sing was running out. ' _Maybe I can sing the song with no music?_ ' Layla thought. That wouldn't sound right. She had to get the piano part. She took a deep breath and tried to concentrate on the musical notes.

When it was time for Layla to going on stage, she second guessed signing up to perform.

"I'm going to need you guys to show our next performer a lot of love. She is fifteen and this is her first time performing in front of a crowd."

As Diana began to introduce Layla, the realization of what she was about to do hit her. She was nervous but there was no backing out now.

"Welcome to the stage Layla Grace."

Layla walked up on stage to a few cheers, her father and grandfather cheering the loudest. She took a seat at the piano.

"Since I literally decided to do this forty five minutes ago, I don't have an original or anything. I'm just going to do a cover of ' _I Was Here_ ' by Beyoncé," Layla announced, taking her dad's advice about owning up to whatever made her nervous. She hoped it worked.

Layla took a deep breath and let all of her thoughts go. She started playing the piano. After she found her rhythm with the song on piano, she began to sing.

" _I wanna leave my footprint on the sands of time. Know there was something that, meant something that I left behind. When I leave this world, I'll leave no regrets. Leave something to remember, so they won't forget. I was here. I lived, I loved. I was here. I did, I've done, everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be. I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here._ "

Fitz was fixated on the stage. Watching her confidence build with every passing keystroke and song note, Fitz felt so much pride in her. Right before his eyes, she was realizing that a dream she didn't even know she had was possible.

"She is incredible," Jerry said.

"I know."

" _I want to say I lived each day, until I die. And know that I meant something in somebody's life. The hearts I have touched will be the proof that I leave. That I made a difference, and this world will see. I was here. I lived, I loved. I was here. I did, I've done, everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be. I will leave my mark so everyone will know I was here. I lived, I loved. I was here. I did, I've done, everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be. I will leave my mark so everyone will know. I was here_ ," Layla sang the words, completely making the song her own. Her voice gave the song a soulful tone. She was singing like she had something to prove.

" _I just want them to know that I gave my all, did my best. Brought someone to happiness. Left this world a little better just because I was here. I was here. I lived, I loved. I was here I did, I've done, everything that I wanted and it was more than I thought it would be. I will leave my mark so everyone will know. I was here. I lived. I loved. I was here. I did, I did, I've done, I was here. I lived, I lived. I loved. I was here. I did, I've done. I was here._ "

It took a moment for Layla's mind to register the cheers from the crowd. When she looked out at the crowd, she noticed a few people actually giving her a standing ovation.


	12. Love In The Dark

**Love In The Dark**

" _We're not the only ones. I don't regret a thing. Every word I've said, you know I'll always mean. It is the world to me that you are in my life. But I want to live and not just survive. That's why I can't love you in the dark. It feels like we're oceans apart. There is so much space between us. Maybe we're already defeated._ "—Adele

* * *

"She was amazing!"

Fitz excitement came through the screen and Olivia smiled at him.

"Did you record it?"

"My dad did. You should have seen her up. She is really good and she doesn't even know it."

"Send me the video when you get a chance."

"Will do."

Fitz looked at the time, "It's two in the morning, why are you still up?"

"I went out for dinner and drinks with Abby. We were up late having girl talk but she finally went to sleep on me."

"Shouldn't you be sleep too."

"I'm not sleeping," Olivia lied.

She could go to sleep but she wanted to stay up and talk to him.

"Layla thinks something is going on between us," his voice broke through their silence.

"I know. Did she say something to you?"

"She mentioned that she thought something was going on between us at dinner. I'm pretty sure she was trying to see what my reaction would be."

"What did you say?"

"I didn't say anything. My dad told her how I was head over heels for you—"

"You were."

"The feelings were mutual."

"They were."

"He told her to trust her gut if she thought something was going on with us, then it probably is."

"Your dad is not helping."

"I think we should just tell her."

"Tell her what?"

"About us. That we're dating."

"We went on one date."

"Don't get technical because that is your fault."

"Are you mad at me now?"

"No. Annoyed maybe but not mad. I just don't understand why you want to hide our relationship. It is complicating things more than they need to be."

"I wanted you two to have time to get your relationship together before we bringing something new at her."

"That's bullshit but okay."

"Before this weekend she had a freak out about being around you because she felt like she kept embarrassing herself around you."

"It sounds like an excuse to me and a backwards one at that. You're so worried about our relationship but you forcing me to lie to her."

"I'm not trying to make excuses. I just don't know how she would take us being together."

This was not the conversation she wanted to have with him.

"It's probably selfish of me but I'm not ready to exit our little bubble. I'm not ready to deal with another blow up with Layla," Olivia answered honestly.

"You can't live your life in a bubble, and the longer you wait to tell her, the more of a blow up it is going to be. Or haven't you learned that from the last secret that you kept from her?"

"You're right but can we wait a little while longer?"

"Are you really asking me because you are giving me a choice?"

"Yes."

Fitz thought for a moment

"I won't say anything for now but I won't lie to her so if she asked me again, I am going to tell her the truth."

"Fair enough."

Olivia knew that she was now on borrowed time. She was going to have to find a way to tell her daughter sooner rather than later about her relationship with Fitz.

* * *

After breakfast Layla took a walk around the lake. She planned on visiting her grandmother since she was in the area but had gotten distracted by the quietness around the lake. She was in no way a nature lover and could never live somewhere where the next house was ten minutes up the road but it was something in the quietness that brought a sense of peace and really made you slow down and take in the beauty of it all.

"Hey," a guy's voice came out of seemingly nowhere.

Layla looked back and saw a guy walking towards her. Had she dropped something?

"Hey," Layla said once he was in earshot.

"I have never seen you around here."

"Did you stop me to tell me that?"

"No. I stopped you to say hey."

"Okay," Layla continued walking.

"I'm Tyler," he introduced himself as he followed behind her.

"Why are you following me, Tyler?"

"I was just taking in the beauty of the lake."

Layla looked at him, from the look on his face, she knew he wasn't actually talking about the lake.

"That was clever, cute even."

"I can be cute on occasion," he smiled at her and Layla actually saw that he was cute.

"I didn't get your name."

"Layla."

"That's a beautiful name."

"Don't overdo it, Tyler."

He chuckled.

"Are you new around here, Layla?"

"Visiting my grandparents."

"Who are your grandparents? I'm might know them."

"My grandfather on my dad's side is Jerry Grant."

"Oh I know Mr. Grant. He gave me my first job when I was twelve. He would let me mow his lawn and even recommended me to a few other residences in the area."

"So does everyone just know everyone around here?"

"Something like that. I think it's the small distances that actually make us closer. When you live close to your neighbors you can get sick of them pretty easily but when your next neighbor is ten minutes up the road, you see them less and are less annoyed with them. So when you finally see them, it's all love."

"No offense but I couldn't live out here."

"Why?"

"Have you never seen a horror movie? I need neighbors in close distance so just in case a demon or an earthily devil tries something, my neighbors will be able to hear me in distress."

He laughed.

"Well I have lived out here all sixteen years of my life and no demon or an earthily devils have ever tried anything."

"It nice place to visit but I need more people around me."

"Do you mind if I walk with you? I mean since you need more people around you."

"You are incredibly corny, Tyler."

"In a charming kind of a way, I hope."

Layla took out her phone and snapped a picture of him and texted it to Mia.

"I just texted a picture of you to my dad. If anything happens to me on this little walk, you're the last known person I was seen with."

"Well I better make sure nothing happens to you now."

Layla let Tyler walk her the rest of her way to her grandmother's house. When they parted ways, he asked for her number and she gave it to him. She started not to as she remembered the last boy she talked to for fun but considering that she was leaving in two days, no real harm could come from exchanging numbers.

They said their goodbyes and parted ways. Layla walked into her grandmother's house—another reason she couldn't live out here was that people had that, ' _It's safe enough to leave your doors unlocked_ ' mentality. It just wasn't safe.

"Hello," Layla called out.

"Up here," came a male voice from upstairs.

Layla walked upstairs and was greeted at the top of the steps by her mom's stepdad.

"Hey, Laydee Bug. What are you doing here?"

Layla smiled at the nickname that only he called her.

"I'm staying with my dad and grandfather for the weekend. I figured I would stop by since I was in the area."

"Well I'm glad to see you. I missed you on your last visit."

"It was a brief one. I think mom and grandma had words because my mom didn't want to stay here so she stayed in a hotel."

"I figured as much. Your mom and grandmother are always going at it for some reason or another."

"Why is that? They are perfectly fine with everyone else but when they come together, it's like world war 3."

"You'll have to ask them that. I've have learned to stay out of their spats."

"Is my grandma here?"

"Yep. She's working in her garden."

"She has a garden now?"

Layla didn't know why the thought of her grandmother gardening made her laugh. She seemed to polished to get down and actually get her hands dirty with yard work.

"It's her new thing."

"Old age must be getting to her."

Dominic laughed, "Don't let her hear you say that."

"Don't let her hear you laughing at that."

Layla looked around, "You're painting?"

"Yeah. Your grandmother has taken on a remodeling project. She wants to redecorate everything."

"Good luck with that."

Layla headed back downstairs and went out back to find her grandmother.

"Hey."

"Hey," Maya stood and took off her gloves, hugging Layla.

"This is a surprise. Is your mother here with you?"

"No. I'm in town with my dad."

"Oh," she sounded surprise, "I never got to talk to you about that. How is that working out for you?"

"What? My dad?"

Maya nodded.

"It's working out great. A few small bumps in the road but all is going fine."

"That's good to hear."

"So you garden now?"

"I do. I'm testing out things to lower my stress. I tried scrapbooking and it wasn't for me. Gardening was the next thing."

Maya and Layla went to sit down on the back patio to play catch up.

"How has your summer been? I missed you this year."

"It's been great. It went by fast. I have been doing a lot of things with my dad, getting to know him."

Maya shook her head and sighed. Layla could tell that it was an involuntary reaction. She knew that her grandmother wasn't doing it to her but Maya's reaction opened up the door for Layla to ask her some question.

"You shook your head, what was that about?"

"Nothing. Go on."

"No, I want to know what's on your mind."

"Nothing."

"Please don't be one of those people who treat me like a child not entitled to know the truth about what is going on around me."

Layla knew that would get her grandmother to talk. If nothing else, she learned how to read people from her mother. Her grandmother's sanctimonious attitude told her that if she used the right words, she could get her to say what she really felt.

"I don't feel like you should be just getting to know your dad. I think your mother should have been told you, told him about you. I don't know where I went wrong with raising her. She lies and manipulates people so easily. She played a game with your life and I don't like that. She didn't grow up without a father, so why did you have to?"

Layla understood her grandmother's line of thinking. She had some of the same thoughts when she first found out that her mother had knew who her dad was all along. But she couldn't hold on to that one mistake that her mother had made.

"I felt the same way when I first found out. But I can't dwell on that now. If I let all the ' _what ifs_ ' and ' _why didn't shes_ ' cloud my mind, I would never forgive my mother. I'm too young to carry all of that on me."

"Well you are a better person than me. I don't know who Olivia is anymore. I haven't known her for years."

"She's your daughter."

"She doesn't act like it?"

"Do you act like a mother to her?"

"It's complicated, Layla."

"Well simplify it."

"You know I love you, right?"

Layla nodded.

"No one wants their child to be a teenage mom. Yes, she was legally an adult when she had you but eighteen is not grown. There was so much that she didn't know about life. So many things that she should have done before having a kid."

"I think that if she could, she would have waited."

"She could have. She wasn't a dumb girl. She knew about birth control and condoms."

Layla just listened to her grandmother. She could tell that this was the first time she was getting to let some of these thoughts out.

"When you were born, before you were born even, it was like everything changed with your mother. She shut me out. Every word she said from then on had been lies, and I'm sad to say that I just don't trust her anymore. I don't trust her to be honest. I don't trust her to be humble. I don't trust her not to act entitled. I don't know this person that my daughter has turned into."

Layla felt uncomfortable listening to her grandmother's true feelings about her mother. She felt the need to defend her mother.

"Well for whatever it's worth, she is a great mom."

"I would hope so for your sake."

"Maybe you should try being a mom to her. I know that you're mad, disappointed in her even but nothing will get resolved if you don't talk, without the animosity."

"She never came an talked to me. She is the one who ruined our relationship."

"And you're her mom. No matter what she did or what you think she did, you are supposed to love her anyway. You are always going to be her mom. You have to be the bigger person here."

"I have been trying for years. It's just a lot of pain there. It's hard to try with someone who is not honest with you."

"Try harder, for me at least. I don't want you two always at odds for the rest of our lives."

If only for Layla, Maya thought that she could at least try with her daughter.

* * *

"How was your visit with your grandmother?"

"It was interesting."

Fitz nodded, not sure if _interesting_ met good or bad but she didn't look upset so he guessed everything was okay.

"Is interesting good?"

"Interesting as in not what I expected but not completely horrible."

Layla spent the next ten minutes explaining the conversation she had with her grandmother. How much she appreciated her mother and the relationship that they had because she honestly couldn't fathom having a mother as judgmental as her grandmother. It was a very eye opening conversation for her.

"I just don't know how my mom put up with it all these years. I guess that's part of the reason we don't visit as much. My grandmother is something else. The dislike towards my mother is clear in the way she speaks."

Fitz had never met Olivia's mother but from hearing both Olivia and Layla speak about her, she seemed like a piece of work.

"I met a guy," Layla changed the subject.

"You did what?"

"I met a guy," she repeated.

Layla almost laughed at the look on his face.

"You met a guy at your grandmother's house."

"On the way there."

Fitz didn't want to be one of those father's but he hated the idea of his daughter meeting boys.

"He was actually kind of cute, in a corny but charming kind of a way. He asked for my number and I gave it to him," Layla couldn't help but to toy with her father.

"He kind of reminded me of you or at least the you I imagined that my mom fell for. Nice guy, charm makes up for him not being a bad boy."

"You've just met him. You have no way of knowing if he is a nice guy."

"He was nice to me."

The fact that all boys are nice when they want something from you was stuck on the tip of his tongue but he didn't say anything because at least she was coming to him with this.

"You might know him. His name is Tyler and he said he use to cut grass for grandpa Jerry when he was twelve."

Fitz tried to think if he could remember any kids cutting his dad's grass. He vaguely remembered his dad mentioning it and he may have seen a kid in passing once or twice but he couldn't recall the kid's face.

"I don't remember him. I'll have to ask my dad about him."

"I can just call him if you want to meet him. I'm sure I can get him to come over."

"Enjoy this now because you're never coming back here again."

* * *

Layla was having the best weekend of her life. Somehow her dad kept topping himself with all the things he had planned for them. Sure it was a work weekend for him but for her it was one life changing experience after the other. She had gotten to play piano on a song her dad produced, performed at an open mic night, went shopping, and was now attending first listening party. Andra Day was having a listening party for her album and as one of the producers, Fitz automatically got an invitation and Layla was his plus one.

Layla sat in the lounge area of the rented nightclub. Fitz had been pulled away for a moment to handle some business related stuff so she was just scoping out her surroundings. She spotted a few celebrities and tried to act normal as she munched on snacks and people watched.

Across the room, Fitz was talking to Garrett Johnson, a former A&R rep turned manager. The came up together in the business. Garrett was one of the most brutally honest people that he knew, so even though they rarely saw eye to eye, the developed a working friendship over the years.

"I hear you took up a teaching position at some private school."

"I did."

"Why? I don't understand why someone as talented as you want to waste your talents by teaching."

"That line of thinking right there is why. You know I hate this business. It's so cutthroat and gimmicky. You have no respect for the music. You are all about the money."

"You grew up with money so it's easy for you to say that."

"My dad raised me well."

"Don't get me wrong, I think it's great, noble what you are doing but I couldn't never just take a year off."

"Your priorities are messed up."

"You musical genius types are all the same."

"I've always hated that title."

"We get it. You're humble, good looking, and talented. Give it a rest already."

Fitz laughed.

"Out with it, Garrett. What do you need?"

"I need a song. I have this new artist that I am working with. She gives me this whole Aaliyah feel but she comes off as more of a party girl. All she has is up tempo club hits and that's great but you know that will make her very one dimensional really quick."

"Okay. I'll do it."

"Really? Don't be playing with me."

"Yeah, I'll do it. I need to talk to her first to get a feel for the kind of song I need to write for her."

"I owe you one, Fitz."

"Not a problem. Just give me a call next week and we can work out the logistics of everything."

Fitz wrapped up his conversation and made his way back to where he left Layla sitting.

"Sorry about that."

"No, it's totally cool. This is really chill compared to what I expected."

"What were you expecting?"

"This to look like a hip hop music video or the way they portray parties of reality TV."

"Some parties look like that. It really depends on the artist. Andra is a really laid back, soulful artist who loves the intimate experience. This is kind of like a mixer where you catch up with people who you haven't seen in a while, get some free food and drinks, and hear some amazing music."

"Speaking of drinks, since they are not carding people in here—."

"Nope."

"Fair enough. I just thought I would ask since I was getting to do a whole bunch of things for the first time."

"Turn eighteen and we'll talk."

A woman walked up to them.

"Andra would like to see you."

Fitz stood and started to follow the woman before he noticed that Layla was still sitting there.

"Are you coming?"

"Sure," Layla stood and quickly caught up to them.

They were escorted to the back, into a dressing room.

"Hello," Andra greeted them with hugs as soon as they came in.

"You look amazing," Layla said, "Are you excited?"

Layla didn't know how she became so comfortable being around an actual recording artist but she figured her excitement from just being here had something to do with it.

"I am. I've worked really hard on this album. It's my baby and I'm about to show my baby to the world. I'm really excited."

"I'm sure they'll love it. I only heard three songs and I think it's amazing."

Andra smiled at her.

"Your dad told me that you played piano on my song."

Layla looked to Fitz and then back at Andra, "I did."

"I was wondering if you would play for me on stage?"

She didn't hear her right. This was not happening.

"Can you repeat that?"

"Since you know the song and played it so beautifully, I wanted to know if you would do the honor of performing it with me? I want people to feel what I felt in the studio as I worked on the song."

Layla's mouth fell open and she shook her head. It was hard to tell if she was saying no or yes.

"I think she's trying to say yes."

She pointed at her father while still shaking her head.

"Yeah. She's saying yes."

"What he said."

Andra found her to be adorable.

"Have you ever performed before?"

"Once."

"I know that I'm just springing this on you—"

"I can do it," Layla said quickly.

If she possessed no other talent musically, she knew that she could play the piano with her eyes close. She had been playing for as long as she could remember.

"Alright then. Do you want to do some practice runs?"

"Yes."

Layla walked over to the keyboard that was set up in the corner. Fitz watched as the two of them went over the song. Layla was doing good but he could tell that she was nervous. They went over the song three times and each time it got better but Layla's nerves were still there.

Fitz excused himself from the room and went back to the front to order a drink. As he waited for his drink, Mellie approached him.

"Hey daddy daycare."

"Mellie."

"I didn't expect to see you here."

"I highly doubt that."

"You really think a lot of yourself."

"You are always popping up."

"It's a small industry."

The bartender sat Fitz drink down in front of him. Fitz thanked him and grabbed his drink.

"You brought her."

"Layla, yes."

"Why? This isn't the place for a kid."

"Don't worry about my kid, Mel."

"You've changed so much. I don't like it."

"I grew up. I stopped letting you use me."

"Use you? You wouldn't be where you are today if it weren't for me."

"Now who is the one who thinks a lot of themselves."

"You treat me like crap for no reason."

"I treat you the way that I do because you like to play games and play the victim. I don't have the time or energy for the drama that you try to bring into my life."

Fitz didn't wait for her to respond, he just walked away. He had no time to deal with her and her negative energy.

When he made it back to the room, Layla was alone playing the keyboard. She played the song full out and it sounded amazing.

"You're nervous."

"Of course I am."

"Why? You said it yourself, you can do this."

"I'm going out on stage in front of people who do and make music for a living."

"So what? They are people just like you. Some not even as talented as you. And no, I'm not just saying that because you're my daughter."

"For some reason I didn't think that you would."

"Andra picked you. She felt that you added something to her song that needed to be heard live. She wouldn't have asked you to do it if she didn't feel like you deserved to be on that stage with her."

Layla took a deep breath. She knew that she could do this. She had already performed on stage this weekend. She knew the song. She totally had this.

"Here," Fitz handed her a drink.

"What is this?"

"It's a vodka and cranberry. It will help with your nerves. Don't tell your mom because she will kill me. Don't make this a habit, you know, the whole drinking before performances thing."

"Who knows if I'll make this performing thing habit," Layla took a sip of the drink, "This is awful," she took another sip.

"You don't have to drink it."

"I know," she finished the drink, "I got this."

"You totally got this."

* * *

The ringing of Fitz's cell phone had woken him up. He blindly reached for his phone, still trying to hold on to his sleep.

"Why are you calling me so early?"

"Long night?"

Hearing Cyrus's voice, Fitz reluctantly opened his eyes. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he looked at the time.

"Cyrus, it is not even seven in the morning yet."

"Now that we have established the time, I thought you would like to know you made the news."

"I did what?"

"I texted you the story."

"Give me a second."

Fitz took a look at his text message from Cyrus. He clicked the link and was taken to a blog post. He skimmed the post and let out a long sigh.

"You know how James loves his gossip sites. He found this little story and sent it to me."

Someone on a gossip blog had posted pictures from inside of the listening party, pictures of him and Layla with title, " _ **Access Granted: A look into the super private producer's intimate life with new bae.**_ "

Fitz lived a very private life. With the exception of a few gossip sites who wanted to link him with people or find out his deal was since he wasn't an extra, in your face " _celebrity_ ", he got to live a normal life. There was this allure about not knowing everything about a person that made him a hot commodity. People wanted to know his story, even if it meant having to make one up. Somehow last night out with his daughter turned into a fabricated story for the gossip rags.

"What the fuck? Do they think I'm like a perv or something? She looks her age."

"It's Hollywood. Weirder things have happened."

Fitz let out another sigh.

"Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. I just thought you would want to know."

"Thanks."

Fitz hung up the phone and read the post. He got annoyed with every line that he read and lie that he saw. It was just like a trashy tell all blogger to make up things based off of pictures. According to the post, Layla may have been with him to advance her career.

When Fitz finished the post, he sent an email to the blogger. He had to see how he could clear this up with little mess.

* * *

Fitz wasn't looking forward for the conversation with Olivia because he already knew it was going to be brutal. He and Layla had returned from the west coast three days ago and he had yet to talk to Olivia about the blog post.

He stopped by her office because he felt like that was a safe place for them to talk. The moment that he saw her face, he knew that she knew and could tell that she was pissed.

"Why is my daughter's face on a gossip website?"

"No hey, hello, how are you?"

"Hey. Hello. How are you? Why the hell is Layla's face on a gossip site as your new young " _conquest_ "?"

"It's just one little blog, not a gossip site. It's a small blurb that I am taking care of."

Olivia went into her desk draw and pulled out a folder and threw it on the desk in front of her.

"It's never just one little blog or a blurb."

Fitz picked up the folder and glanced through it. His face remained calm but the one little blog post that came out over the weekend had turned into a story on TMZ and E! News. Olivia had highlight parts of the articles, printed out comments, and somehow managed to get photos from inside the party.

"You took her to an industry party?"

"It was a listening party."

"She's fifteen."

"And she listens to music. It wasn't like I took her to a party with sex, drugs, and rock 'n roll."

"My fifteen year old daughter has her photo on two gossip websites with grown ass men commenting about how good she looks and how well she looks like she can take dick. There is nothing small or little about this whole situation."

As she talked Fitz was reading through the pages she had given him and occasionally looking up at her so that she would know he was listening to her. His eyes reached a comment from someone with the screen name **FuckHerTitz26** , that said, _'Her face looks like the perfect place for my cum._ '

Fitz bit his top lip to stop the string of expletives from falling from his lips. Who type of basement bastard was FuckHerTitz26? Clearly Layla looked young, too young for anyone to be thinking about her in a sexual way.

Fitz looked up at Olivia.

"I'm sorry about this. It was really just an innocent listening party," he didn't know what else he was supposed to say. He couldn't change the fact that the articles and comments were out there but he was working to correct the information that was out there.

"You should have asked me before you took her to a party."

"I didn't know I needed permission to spend time with my daughter."

"There is a lot of things that you don't know."

Her tone held an attitude that Fitz didn't like so her retorted back, "Whose fault is that?"

"Really, Fitz?"

He stared at her straight on. She didn't scare him. She wasn't this big, bad Olivia Pope to him, just Livvie. Fitz understood that she was upset but he wasn't going to back down from her.

"I know that you are new at this whole parenting thing but normal people don't go partying with their children," Olivia stated calmly.

"Cut the condescending tone and the passive aggressive shit, Olivia."

"Excuse me?"

"Your underhanded comments are not needed. I apologized already to soothe your ego. The superiority complex that you are showing right now is not becoming."

"I don't need your insincere apologies. I need you to do better. If you're going to play daddy, I need for you to think before you put Layla in situations where she is making tabloid news before she can even drive a car. We didn't have these problems before..."

"Before what? Before you lied and kept my daughter away from me for years?"

"Don't do that."

"Don't criticize me and talk down to me about being a new dad when you hid her from me. Cut all the ' _new at this whole parenting thing_ ' dig that you do. You of all people don't get to throw that at me. Don't act like you are the only one who knows what is best for her because you have been doing this a little longer than me. She likes to sing and is damn talented. I took her to a listening party, not a strip club. She worked a song with me and got to hear it live. Stop acting like I put her harm's way."

Fitz voice was calm yet stern. It had a finality to it that didn't leave room for any dispute. Olivia was quiet for a moment. She didn't know this side of Fitz. She didn't think he was pushover but clearly her normal tactics of talking to people weren't going to work on him.

"Look at the last few pages."

Fitz flipped through the pages until he reached the last stack. There were photos of Mellie talking with gossip columnist Amanda Tanner.

"That's your friend, right? She looks different with her clothes on so it's hard to tell."

"Where did you get this?"

"I have a guy."

"What does that even mean?"

Fitz got to the end of the photos and reached a page that had all of Mellie's information on it. Her full name, birthdate, social security number, home address, phone number, email address, there was a whole profile and life history going back years, decades even.

"Your guy can do all of this?"

"I know people in high places."

"This seems like an invasion of privacy."

"Do not defend that mutt to me. Not when she invaded my daughter's privacy."

"These photos don't really prove anything," Fitz was lying to himself because the photos were pretty damning. He just didn't want to believe that Mellie would stoop so low as to tell a reporter about Layla, and not only that but try to frame it as if she was someone he was seeing romantically. What was she trying to do to him?

"See this is why I bring up the new dad thing. Our daughter just had her face put on a gossip site as the latest girl that you are sleeping with and you are acting so nonchalant about this. You are defending the bitch that did this. Layla is about to start a new school. You are going to be her teacher, how does it look that you two are out at parties? What if the school hears about this? Will they want to disqualify her from the program? What will the students think if they have seen this? Will she get harassed about getting special treatment from you every time she does good? You are not thinking about her and how this will affect her. That's why I mention being a new dad because clearly from your reaction the connection is not there between you two or you would be pissed the hell off."

It was Fitz's turn silent. He hadn't even thought of any of that. Did that make him a bad father? He should have thought about that. He had just wanted to do something fun with Layla, something that he knew she would love. He had no idea that Mellie would be stupid enough to leak false stories to the press.

"It's very hurtful that you would say I don't have a connection with Layla. I'm sorry my fury doesn't match yours but don't act like I don't love her. I would never intentionally put her in a situation that would bring her harm."

"I know that," her voice was softer, she could tell he was dealing with all that she had thrown at him. But she wasn't going to apologize because this was her daughter so even though he didn't mean her any trouble to come her way, some woman from his past had out her daughter's name out there.

"I know that you didn't mean for any of this to happen but you brought this person into our lives. I don't play when it comes to my child so fair warning, you put a muzzle on your Chihuahua before I silence her. It will be less pleasant if I do it because I will ruin her."

* * *

The more time that Fitz had to think about it, he knew that the blog post had Mellie's name all over it. He was pissed her for the position that she had put Layla in to try to get his attention. He didn't trust himself to be around her because the more that he thought about it, the angrier he got.

It was probably something that should be handled in person but Fitz decided to call Mellie instead because he didn't want to see her.

"Fitz, calling me. This is a surprise."

"Do you have a minute talk?"

"Yeah. What's going on?"

"I sent you an email. I'm assuming you didn't see it."

"Give me a second."

He heard her clicking some keys on her keyboard and then things went silent.

"Do you see it?"

"…yeah. What is this?"

Fitz had sent her copies of the pictures that Olivia had gotten her hands on.

"Do you have something at you want to tell me?"

"I hear accusation in your voice and I don't appreciate it."

"I don't appreciate having sneaky, bitter ass people go to the press behind my back."

"Excuse me?"

"Cut the shit, Mellie. I know you were the one who leaked Layla's name to the press."

"Do you seriously think I have the time to worry about you and your little ready made family? Don't flatter yourself, Fitzgerald."

"Don't try to play me for stupid."

"Did your baby mama give you these?"

"What happened to you? Why are you so vindictive? Do you not care that you are bringing a young kid into whatever scheme you are trying to pull?"

"I'm not trying to pull anything. I resent the fact that you would try to accuse me of leaking your daughter's name to the press. Why would I do that to you? That makes no sense."

"That's why I don't understand why you would do it."

"I'm not understanding how you are turning me talking to someone into this big plot against you."

Fitz knew that she was going to lie to the end. Mellie was never going admit to what she did, and because he wanted no parts of any type of relationship with her, he just wanted to make things clear.

"I need you to stay away from me."

"What?"

"I don't want anything to do with you. Work relationship, romantic relationship, friendship, nothing. There is no reason for us to ever speak again."

"Fitz, you don't know what you're saying."

"You're delusional, Mellie. I don't know what you were trying to do but I'm going to say this to you one time and one time only, **DO NOT** play with me."

"Are you threatening me?"

"I'm promising you, that you don't want to bring my daughter into whatever game you are trying to play. I'm daring you to try me. I am done playing with you. I will ruin your life."

"I don't take too kindly to threats, Fitzgerald. If you think for one second that you are going to ruin me, remember that you will be ruining yourself as well because I'm not going down until you are going down with me."

To get the last word, Mellie hung up on him. Fitz didn't know what Mellie had planned but he knew that she couldn't be trust.

* * *

The women in Fitz's life were trying to drive him crazy. He was sure of it. If it wasn't Mellie being vindictive and manipulative, it was Olivia snapping on him. When he invited her over after Layla had left to go to the movies, he planned on having a rational conversation with Olivia but she was more interested in talking at him than too him.

He had done an interview, clearing up who Layla was to him and announcing to the world that she was his daughter. He had already talked to Layla before doing the interview and she was fine with it so he didn't feel like he needed to consult with Olivia on the matter. Maybe that was wrong of him to do without talking to Olivia first but he was tired of hiding things. He wasn't ashamed of Layla or his relationship with Olivia. He wanted the world to know so that they weren't living under a cloud of secrecy.

Fitz thought that Olivia would be able to take the news fairly well. The story had been out of two days now and no negativity came out of it. But he thought wrong.

"Why would you do an interview without talking to me first?"

"You told me to fix it and I did."

"No. You went behind my back and did an interview announcing to the world that Layla is your daughter."

"You just like to be angry don't you?"

"You just did the same thing that Mellie did."

"No. I cleared up what Mellie did."

"The point was for Layla's name and image not to be in the press."

"How did you expect me to do that, genius? Her image was already out there. I cleared up the confusion about who she was to me. I'm not ashamed of her. She is my daughter and the world should know that."

Olivia was trying her hardest not to get angry with him, she just wish he had talked to her first because she felt blindsided.

"You should have talked to me first."

"You seem to be under the impression that you have control over what I do or say. I'm not one of you clients, Olivia. Stop treating me like I am."

She would be lying if she said that she hadn't been treating him like this was a big scandal. Maybe it was selfish on her part because she didn't want people to start asking questions. She didn't want Layla's life to be front page news, hell she didn't want her own skeletons being brought up in this mess.

"I talked to Layla before I did the interview. I wanted to make sure she was okay with it and since she was, I did it. I'm not going to apologize for claiming my daughter."

"You two didn't think that I needed to know about this before the general public?"

"She thought you would worry about it too much."

"You're not supposed to help her keep secrets from me."

"You want me to help you keep secrets from her."

"It's when you say things like that, that makes me think you did this out of spite," her tone was light as the tension that filled the room moments earlier disappeared.

"Did you read the article?"

"I did."

"What did you think?"

"You did good. You really focused it on the music program and the reason you wanted to teach towards the end. It came off as a really positive piece for the music program."

"And yet you came in here trying to yell at me."

"I may go a little overboard when it comes to her but I can't apologize for being a protective mama bear."

"I don't expect you to," Fitz walked over and stood in front of her. It was reminiscent of the way he stood next to her in her father's kitchen weeks ago. The moment that had changed everything for her.

"You have to trust me."

"I do trust you."

"No, you don't. I get that you have been doing this by yourself for so long but you have to trust me, and know that I wouldn't anything that would harm Layla."

"I know that," Olivia said simply, leaving out the fact that if she didn't trust him, she wouldn't have him around Layla.

Olivia could tell that their last few talks had left him feeling like she didn't trust him and would be second guessing his decisions forever. They were both Layla's parents, they both had a say in her life.

"I'm sorry that I made you feel like I didn't trust you. I'll be better at letting you take the lead."

"That was easier than I thought."

"I like you, Grant so I took it easy on you."

"Oh, really?"

Olivia nodded. Fitz moved in closer, his lips hovering just above hers. Olivia waited for his lips to connect with hers but he just smirked at her. He was testing her to see if she could actually let someone else take the lead.

"You want to kiss me, don't you?" He spoke against her lips.

"That would be nice."

"You want to kiss me, don't you?" He repeated his question.

"Yes," her voice was just a whisper.

"Speak up."

"Yes," she said louder. She was incredibly turned on by the way he was able to handle her. There was the very calm, subtle dominance that he possessed. Maybe it was in the way that he didn't back down from her that turned her on so much.

"Kiss me, Olivia," Fitz gave her permission to go after what she wanted.

Olivia wasted no time connecting her lips with his. He left her control the speed and pace of their kiss and she hungrily sucked on his tongue, not fully knowing how much she needed this. Fitz caught her off guard lifting her up and placing her on the counter.

"My turn," Fitz smirked at her before dropping to his knees.

* * *

Layla knocked on her dad's door and waited for him to answer. His car was outside but she didn't get any answer. She waited a few seconds before knocking again. Still there was no answer.

"Oh, come on," she tried to look through his blinds. The TV was still on so he had to be there. ' _Maybe he is in the bathroom_ ,' she thought.

Layla had made it all the way to the movies when she realized she had left her cell phone charging at her dad's house. She figured she wouldn't need it while she was at the movies so she went ahead and watched the movie, deciding to grab her phone on her way home.

As she contemplated really going home without her phone, she remembered the key that he had given her. She was never comfortable using it so she just stuck it on her keychain and forgot about it.

Layla dug in her bag and grabbed her house keys. She knocked once more and when she didn't get an answer, she used her key to let herself in.

She went straight to the living room and grabbed her cell phone and was on her way out when she heard a muffled noise from the kitchen.

Against her better judgment–and knowledge of scary movies–Layla walked towards the kitchen. She silently prayed there wasn't a murderer or home invader she would be encountering. As she got closer, the muffled noise turned into moans.

Before she could register that she should probably go back, she had taken one step too many and was greeted with the sight of her father's bare ass.

Fitz slammed into someone sitting on the countertop, his body shielding whoever his lover was but from the loud moans, Fitz was really giving it to her. It was only when Layla heard her dad say, "That's it. Just like that. Open up and take all this dick," was she able to snap out of whatever trance that wouldn't let her feet move. Layla turned away attempting to leave as quietly as possible when she heard a familiar female voice respond, "Oh my God! Fuck me. Ahhhh, shit."

She stopped dead in her tracks. Her mind had to be playing tricks on him. Looking towards the kitchen again, the woman who her dad was fucking was clear as day.

Fitz hand was around Olivia's neck, the sound of their bodies slapping against one another seemed to get louder and louder.

"Shit Fitz! I'm right there. Ahhhh," Olivia screamed.

"Mom?! Dad! Oh my God!"

Layla's voice broke through the sexual haze her parents seemed to be under. Olivia's eyes shot open and she saw her daughter. She pushed Fitz off of her.

"Layla," she hopped off of the countertop.

"Shit," Fitz quickly tried to cover himself.

Layla turned and disappeared out of sight.

Fitz pulled his pants up as Olivia frantically looked for her panties. Not being able to find them she grabbed her pants, putting them on without out missing panties.

"This bad. This is so bad," Olivia's hand was shaking.

"We fucked up," was all that Fitz could say.


	13. Ordinary People

**Ordinary People**

" _I know I misbehaved and you made your mistakes and we both still got room left to grow. And though love sometimes hurts, I still put you first and we'll make this thing work but I think maybe we should take it slow….Maybe we'll live and learn. Maybe we'll crash and burn. Maybe you'll stay, maybe you'll leave, maybe you'll return. Maybe another fight. Maybe we won't survive, but maybe we'll grow. We never know, maybe you and I. We're just ordinary people. We don't know which way to go cause we're ordinary people._ "—John Legend

* * *

"Layla, hey. What's going on?"

"I locked myself out and my mom is working late so I just stopped by."

She stepped inside and immediately noticed the romantic setting.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Edison, what's going on?"

A woman came from out of the living room.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't know you had company. I'm go."

"No, it's fine."

The woman looked at Layla and then Edison.

"Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Edison nodded and the woman walked towards the kitchen.

"Stay here. I'll be back in a minute."

The moment Edison went into the kitchen, his date asked him, "Who is she?"

"My ex's daughter."

"Your ex's daughter just shows up on your doorstep and you just let her in?"

"Yes."

"Why? I'm just asking because there seems to still be some connection there for you to invite her in."

"Paula, you don't have anything to worry about. We broke up three years ago. We are still friends. We use to work together so even before we were together, her and her daughter were in my life. I've known Layla since she was like four or five. She's like a daughter to me. She is always going to be in my life."

"It sounds like I have a lot to worry about. I didn't know I was dating a man with a kid."

Edison sighed.

"I don't know what you want me to say."

"That's Olivia Pope's daughter, right?"

Edison nodded.

"She is the love of your life."

"You don't believe that or else you wouldn't be here."

"I know how much you care for her. I don't want this to turn into a thing."

"Olivia is my friend and we are close but nothing more. Layla is like my family. I care for you a lot. I value where this relationship is going but don't make me choose between you and Layla."

"I'm not trying to make you choose."

"Don't make this a thing."

"Your ex's kid showing up on your doorstep is a thing."

"What do you want me to do, Paula?"

"I shouldn't have to tell you what to do."

Edison sighed.

"I'm going to go. You figure this out and call me when you have everything settled."

Edison let her walk out. He didn't bother to go after her because he really didn't feel like dealing with this now. He would have to fix this at a later date. He waited until he heard the door close before he went back into the living room with Layla.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to run your date off."

"It's fine."

"It's not. I shouldn't have come here."

"What's happened?"

Layla opened her mouth to say something but then quickly closed it. She couldn't tell Edison that she had caught her parents together.

"Layla, what happened?"

"I can't say. My mom and I aren't seeing eye to eye right now and I didn't have anywhere else to go."

"Your mom doesn't know that you're here."

"Nope."

"I can't let you stay unless you tell me what's going on."

"You don't mean that."

"I don't want to kick you out but I will."

"You won't."

"I will."

Layla knew that Edison wouldn't really kick her out but she also knew she was asking for a lot by not telling him why she had showed up on his doorstep.

"I rather not say."

Edison walked to the front door and opened it, "Well, I guess I'll see you later."

"I caught my parents together, intimately."

"Oh my," he shut the door.

"Yeah," Layla shook her head, trying to rid herself of the image of her parents having sex.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to tell you."

"What vibe am I giving off? It's completely fine, well for me that is. I can't imagine how you feel."

"I just know that you really loved my mom and I didn't want to hurt you."

"Your mom and I have been over for three years. When we agreed to end our relationship and remain friends, we agreed to be okay with each other moving on. I'm okay."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive," he gave her a reassuring smile. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Do you want to hear about it?"

"Not really but for you I would listen."

"For both of our sakes, I don't think that we need to discuss this."

"You're probably right. But I need to call your mom to tell her where you are."

"I'm not going home with her."

"Okay."

"Okay."

Edison excused himself to go call Olivia.

* * *

"Layla, I know you are upset with me and you have every right to be. I'm so, so sorry for what you saw. I just want to know that you are safe. Please call me or send me a text when you get this message."

Olivia ended the call and threw her phone down in the passenger seat. For the first time in the last forty-five minutes she was able to let her mind settle on what happened. Her teenage daughter had caught her having sex. As if that wasn't humiliating enough, she had to worry about where Layla was and how she was feeling. After getting caught, she quickly got dressed and went to go after Layla. She wanted to apologize and explain herself but Layla didn't go home, she wasn't at her grandfather's house, or at any of her friends' houses.

Olivia felt helpless and stupid and angry. She had messed up but she meant well. Knowing how nervous and unsure Layla had been about her relationship with Fitz,

"Edison, I can't really talk right now."

"Layla's here."

"She is."

"Yeah. She told me what happened. She's going to stay the night."

"She told you?"

Olivia was surprised to hear that Layla had told him what happened.

"Yep."

"I'm sorry she came to you with this."

"It's no problem. Are you okay?" He hesitantly added.

"Uh…no, I'm not."

Olivia didn't have the word to say to express what she was feeling at the moment. She didn't even know if she had the words, if she would share them with Edison.

"It's still fresh. Maybe you'll feel better about in the morning."

Edison was in a very precarious position. He would always love Olivia. Edison considered Olivia to be the love of his life but he loved her enough to let her go and move on in a way that allowed them maintaining a friendship. Times like these were hard because he didn't want to overstep his bounds. The intimate nature of their past relationship made if difficult but Edison had to find the perfect combination of emotional distance while still showing up and being supportive of her as his friend.

"Are you sure it's okay if stays?"

"You know it is."

"I don't…thank you, Eddie."

"I'll drop her off on my way to work tomorrow."

After ending the call with Edison, Olivia sat in her car trying to wrap her mind around everything that happen and how she was going to fix it.

* * *

Fitz read over the string of text messages he had sent to Layla. He didn't know how else he could word his countless apologies and their need to talk. He was kicking himself in the head at being caught by his daughter. It was embarrassing and certainly traumatizing for Layla. Fitz felt like he should be doing more but he wasn't sure what exactly that should be. Maybe he should be out looking for Layla with Olivia. Never being in a situation like this, Fitz was at a lost for what he should do.

Fitz picked up his phone and called Olivia. It went straight to voicemail and he left a message. Sitting his phone down, Fitz rubbed his temple. He looked up when he heard the door open.

"Am I allowed to just walk in? The door was unlocked."

"Of course."

Olivia leaned against the door frame. She looked so drained. Fitz stood and walked over to her.

"Did you find her?"

Olivia nodded.

"She's staying at Edison's house tonight."

Fitz looked over at her.

"Your ex, Edison?"

Olivia nodded and Fitz sighed. It was hard for him to hide his annoyance but he tried to for Olivia's sake.

Olivia didn't know if she was punishing herself because she felt selfish and guilty for coming back here but she wasn't going to let his reaction go unquestioned.

"Problem?"

"A little," the look he gave signaled that the problem should have been obvious. When she didn't say anything, Fitz asked, "Why is Layla staying with your ex?"

"She is kind of upset with us right now."

"That doesn't explain why Layla is with him."

"He has been in her life since she was five. She trusts him. She always goes to him. He is…," she stopped short of saying how Edison was like a father to Layla. "He is a neutral person for her," Olivia quickly recovered.

"Whenever we go through something, she either goes to Edison or my brother."

"And you're okay with that?"

"Yeah, I am. I'm not perfect, she needs someone who she can go to when she feels like she can't get through to me."

Fitz was silent.

"Are you not okay with this?"

"No. I'm not. You need to go get her."

"You want me to go get her after what just happened?"

"You can't avoid things forever. We need to talk about this."

"Do you honestly think we are going to get somewhere with her tonight?"

"We'll never know since you're just going to let her stay with your ex."

"This is about Edison," she stated.

"This is about you letting Layla do whatever the hell she wants to do."

Fitz didn't know why the idea of Layla going to Olivia's ex whenever she had a problem bothered him but he did. He should be happy that his daughter had someone to talk to but the fact that Edison had gotten to see Layla grow up and he didn't, made their closeness hard to accept.

"You are jealous, of Edison. Wow."

"I'm not jealous of Edison."

"It sounds like it."

"I don't think Layla should run to him when she has a problem."

"They're close, Fitz. I cannot and will not change that."

"I'm not asking you to change it—"

"Then what? What are you saying?"

"She's our daughter and we fucked up. We should be able to talk to her. She shouldn't have to go to someone else to talk or to sort out her feelings."

"I get that but I know Layla and we can't push her. I think given all that happened tonight, she needs a minute to adjust."

Fitz didn't say anything but judging by the look on his face, she knew that he was mad. She weighed her options of if she should say something to him or not. She decided that she needed to.

"Their closeness bothers you," she stated.

"It doesn't matter because you're her mother and you know her better than anyone else because you raised her alone for fifteen years. Well accept for the years you were with Edison. The guy who's like a dad to my daughter."

"I'm sorry."

"You're sorry that you lied and kept us apart for years. You're sorry that you talked me into lying to her. You're sorry that your ex is closer to Layla than I am."

His words burned Olivia and for some reason she felt the need to cry. She had messed up. She was trying to protect Layla and left her and Fitz develop a relationship before she sprung this on her. Olivia was wrong and she knew it. She had made the wrong call. This was on her and she was beating herself up enough about it without Fitz adding his hurt words.

Coming back here was the wrong idea. Neither of them were in the right headspace and it was unfair of her to expect him to be strong for her in this moment. She couldn't stay here while he said things that he didn't mean out of frustration. He was bound to say something to push her over the edge. She needed to be alone, to think and deal with her stupid mistake. They needed time a part since their being together got them in this situation in the first place.

Olivia took a step back, "I'm going to go."

Fitz grabbed her hand and pulled her back to him.

"I shouldn't have said that. It was cruel and uncalled for. I'm sorry."

"It wasn't a lie."

"It's not our truth."

Olivia closed her eyes to stop the tears she felt building up. She didn't want to cry in front of him. She didn't even know what she was crying for. Did she feel sorry for herself? Or did she feel sorry for Fitz and Layla? Lies that she insisted on telling kept landing them here, in this place of dysfunction.

"I should go."

Olivia tried to move away from him but he wrapped his arm around her waist, keeping her planted in place.

"I would like it if you stayed."

"I'm a big girl, Fitz. You don't have to watch over me like I'm fragile because you said a few things to hurt my feelings."

"That's not why I'm asking you to stay. I don't want to be alone tonight and you are one of the handful of people that I know in this town. Since Layla is pissed at both of us, it's either you stay here or I go sleep over at your dad's place."

Olivia didn't understand how he was able to lighten the mood so quickly but she was grateful that he was able to. A smile broke through.

"There you are," Fitz smiled at her. "We're going to get through this. I don't know how but we are."

Olivia didn't know how they were going to get through this but she believed him when he said that they would.

* * *

"I brought you some towels and shirt to sleep in."

Fitz took a seat on the side of the tub.

"Thanks."

Olivia rested her head against the back of the tub. The hot water felt amazing and helped to relax her.

"Your bathtub is amazing. I don't think I ever want to get out."

Fitz smiled at her. He stared at her face taking in her features. She looked relaxed but he could tell she was still upset from tonight's events.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, Fitz."

"No, I mean seriously. How are you feeling?"

Olivia offered a weak smile before looking down.

"Embarrassed, pissed at myself, vulnerable, a tad bit emotional," Olivia listed various emotions that she was trying to comprehend herself.

"I don't know what's wrong with me," she looked over at him, "It's just a lot going on right now and I could use a really good crying session. But because I did all of this, I don't get to play victim or be upset about the mess that I created."

"You're not a robot, Livvie. It's okay to feel things and express those things."

Olivia closed her eyes to stop the tears that were brimming her eyes from falling.

"I'm failing as mom. I keep doing things to hurt my daughter. I don't know what's wrong with my judgment. I'm starting to wonder if it was always this bad."

"You're human. We all make mistakes and bad calls. It's a part of life."

She offered him a weak smile.

"I don't deserve you."

He brushed a stray hair out of her face and stared into her eyes.

"I love you."

This was the first time that Fitz had actually said those words to Olivia. They had admitted their past feelings for one another months ago after dinner but he had never actually said the words. Fitz had surprised himself by saying them but it was his only reaction to her claims that she didn't deserve her. He loved her so much that it consumed him. He wanted nothing more than to be with her, to take on the world with her, to have a family with her, and he knew no other way to make her see that than to just tell her that he loved her.

Olivia looked at him. She didn't know how three little words—words that she had heard before—could sound so different coming from his lips. Olivia knew without him even saying the words that he loved her because she loved him too. His words were laced with reassurance and care. They gave her hope and filled her with joy. She truly believed that they would get through this.

"You don't have to say it back," his words broke through her thoughts. "I just want you to know that you and Layla mean the world to me. You've given so much over the years. You gave a purpose for living."

His eyes were so sincere, and in that moment, Olivia saw everything that made her love Fitz. He made her feel safe and loved. He loved her pass her mistakes and without judgment.

"You're my family and I love you."

"I love you too," she said without a second thought.

* * *

Layla wasn't looking forward to seeing her mother but she knew she had to go home eventually. The whole car ride from Edison's place to hers was quiet. She had a lot on her mind. She wanted to forget what happened because the more she thought about it, the madder she got. Layla didn't want to be in the same room with her parents. It wasn't even the sex that upset her, she was just tired of being lied to and being the last to know everything.

When they pulled up to her house. Layla was the first to get out of the car. She already had it in her mind that she was just going to go straight to her room and not speak to her mother. She needed time to sort her feelings out because she was pissed at both of them.

Layla walked into her house. She saw her parents sitting in the living room but she completely ignored their presence as she walked upstairs.

"Layla," Olivia called out to her.

She stood and walked over towards the stairs with Fitz following behind her.

"Hey," Edison spoke making his presence known.

"Hey Eddie."

Fitz didn't know why hearing Olivia call Edison ' _Eddie_ ' instead of his full name, made him feel a bit jealous. They had a good talk the night prior and just by looking at Edison, Fitz wasn't worried but he still didn't like how close this man was to his family.

"Thanks for everything."

"It's no problem, Liv. You know that."

Fitz cleared his throat. Both Olivia and Edison looked over at him. Before she could introduce the two, Fitz introduced himself.

"Fitz," he held out his hand.

"Edison," he shook Fitz's hand, "It's good to put a face to a name."

"Same."

Fitz left out the part about him not being impressed by the face in front of him.

"So you're a music producer?"

"Yeah. You're an accountant?"

Olivia looked in between the two men. She was watching the beginnings of a pissing contest. In that moment, she didn't know if she should try to talk to her angry daughter or stand here and watch her ex and her current battle it out with subtle jabs hidden in niceties.

"No. I could be though. I'm a businessman."

"What does that mean exactly?"

Where this conversation was going was not lost of Edison. His first mind had him responding that handled his business, taking care of Layla and being there for Olivia but saying that would be immature and it would hurt the two people he cared about the most. Edison decided to just take Fitz's jabs as a man frustrated at the time he missed. He didn't want to add fuel to the fire.

"In another life I was probably an accountant but my day job is a lawyer. I do some investing and teaching people how to manage money."

"Wow. It seems like you do everything."

"I try to. What exactly does a music producer do? Forgive me but it kind of seems like a play job."

Olivia pursed her lips together. She saw this not going well at all. She knew that she had to step in before things moved from little shots to something full blown.

"Play nice, boys."

"We're fine," Fitz said.

"I meant no harm."

"I know what you meant."

Fitz didn't take offense in his comment. Edison was simply doing what Fitz had done when he asked what exactly Edison did.

"Well, I should get going. Fitz, we'll have to get a beer sometime and really be properly introduced."

"We will."

Edison left and Olivia looked at Fitz.

"What?"

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"You're not really going to get a drink with him?"

"Yeah. I am."

"I don't know how I feel about this."

"You'll get over it."

"He is a really good friend. I don't want you two to clash."

"We won't."

"I can't tell from the way you guys were acting."

"We were really good."

"You're an accountant?" She repeated his earlier question.

"I could have sworn that's what you said he did. My mistake."

"Yeah, okay," Olivia shook her head at him.

"Are you ready to try to tackle this," he pointed towards the stairs.

"No."

Fitz grabbed her hand and gave it a squeeze.

"We got this."

* * *

After a few days of not talking to anyone, Layla felt like she was hitting her boiling point. Time didn't calm her down. It made every bad thought rise to the surface. Feeling like she had no one that she could talk to, Layla had called her uncle Nick and he was on the first bus from Philadelphia to come see her with no questions asked.

She loved her uncle Nick. Being five years older than her, he was more like an older brother than an uncle. She could talk to him about anything. He always knew how to make her feel better.

After dropping his bags off, Nick and Layla headed to the boxing gym to blow off some steam.

Layla had been going to the boxing gym with her uncle Frankie as long as she could remember. It was kind of a family tradition for Frankie to teach all kids how to defend themselves. The aunts and uncles had grown up a little rougher than their children and grandchildren and wanted to ensure that their kids knew how to handle themselves in all situations.

She didn't come to the boxing gym much now, just occasionally for exercise or in cases like now, when she was angry and had to blow off some steam. She had days to think about what happened between her parents and all that came out of it was an anger that she didn't know she possessed.

It was nasty catching her parents having sex, she wished she could scrub the image from her memory. But more than anything, she was angry because they had both lied to her. After letting the incident sit with her for a few days, when Layla realized that her anger wasn't going away, she called her uncle. If she could talk to no one else freely, she could always talk to uncle Nick.

"Are you going to tell me what was so important that you couldn't tell me over the phone?"

"My parents are together."

"Okay."

"Not okay."

"Do you not want them together?"

Layla shrugged. She had mixed emotions about her parents being together. She was mad that they had lied to her when she asked them if anything was going on. The fact that they had kept a secret from her feel this sense of jealousy. She felt like a third wheel and that made her realize that she didn't want to share her dad, even if it was with her mom.

"I walked in on them having sex."

"Oh my God."

"In his kitchen."

"That had to be traumatizing."

"It was kind of but I'm actually more mad than anything."

"Are you mad because they are together?"

"There is a part of me that is mad at them both for lying to me. I asked them if something was going on and they denied it."

"And the other part of you?"

"Then there is this irrational part me that is mad because I just met my dad and I don't want to share him. I don't want to compete for his love and his attention. I can't compete with my mom there."

"Why do you feel like you have to compete? He loves you both in different ways. There is no competition there."

"I said it was an irrational part of me. Nick, I'm trying really hard to calm the rage that is building inside of me."

"She lied to you, yes but parents do that sometimes. They think they are sheltering their kids but they are hurting them with the lie. I get that you're upset but where is the rage coming from?"

"My whole life has been a lie. She kept me away from my dad and I tried to understand why. I tried to make sense of this fear and uncertainty she felt that made her lie. The denial that she must have been in finding out that she was pregnant with me. I tried to move pass it but can I when the lies are constant? I'm ANGRY that she gets to lie, and play God with my life and he just forgives her. Why does she get a happily ever after when she played with my life for so long. I want her miserable and it's wrong because she is my mother but I'm pissed the fuck off. She could have done this shit fifteen years ago. Saved me and my dad from years apart. I have had a good life but my entire life I felt like something was wrong with me. I am clingy for male attention. I always run to you or Edison. I play piano with my grandfather. I box with uncle Frankie, cook with uncle Ray, I babysit for Jordan from time to time, I hang out with my mother's male employees. I have daddy issues. If I was older I would probably be sleeping around for attention. My mother's lie put this burden on me. I'm trying to move pass it but it's hard."

Nick nodded. He understood the turmoil that she was going through. So much had changed, and was continuing to change in her life in the last few month, that anyone would be struggling to adjust. No words he could say to her would make her anger and hurt go away so he decided to help her channel her anger.

"We're getting in the ring."

"What?"

"You're going to fight me."

"I don't want to fight you."

"You're angry, hurt, and feel betrayed at being lied to. The anger is going to stay there until you do something about it. We're going to work it out."

"I don't want to hurt you."

He smiled.

"I'm not worried about that."

Nick took Layla to get outfitted with gloves and gear to do a few rounds in the ring.

* * *

Olivia was greeted by the smell of food when she walked into her home. She announced herself, not really expecting a reply from Layla since it had been days filled with the silent treatment. She made her way into the kitchen and was shocked to see her brother.

"Nick, what are you doing here?" She greeted him with a hug. As she pulled away, she saw Layla leaving the room. Olivia felt the familiar feeling of her heart dropping to the pit of her stomach. It was hard having her daughter hate her. She had to resist the urge not to break out in tears. Never in all the years of raising her, had Olivia had as bad a time as she had been in the last couple of months. Disappointing and hurting her daughter was not something she wanted to do but it seemed like that's all she had been doing the last couple of months.

"She called you?"

Nick nodded.

"She really pissed at me."

"A little bit."

"Did she tell you what happened?"

"She told me everything," he smiled at her mischievously.

"She caught you and her father in a very compromising position."

Olivia knew he was trying to lighten the mood but even his charm wasn't going to work this time.

She walked to her cabinet to grab a wine glass. Her hands were shaking and she didn't even know it until she lost hold of the glass and it hit the ground, shattering.

"Liv," Nick looked her.

When he caught the tears in her eyes, he immediately walked over to her. Nicolas had never seen his sister cry. It was foreign to him to see her so broken. Instinctively he went to her, pulling her into an embrace. Olivia let her tears flow freely as her brother held her.

After a few moments, she pulled away.

"I'm sorry. I don't know what's been wrong with me the last few days. I'm a mess."

"No need to apologize. You have a lot going on."

Nick grabbed a broom and started cleaning up the broken pieces of glass.

"Do you want to talk about it? It's better out than in."

"I hate that I keep hurting my daughter. I worked so hard to make sure that she happy and had this good life and everything that I have done in the last fifteen years has been overshadowed by these two lies that I told. She can barely look at me and I can't take that. I can't deal with her hating me."

"She doesn't hate you. She loves you, both of you and she is mad as hell that you guys lied to her. She is trying to get a handle on her anger before she comes to talk to you."

Olivia didn't know if it was her tendency to kick herself when she was down, but she had to ask her brother, "What do you think about all of this? I mean honestly. We never got the chance to talk since Layla found out Fitz was her father."

He shrugged, "I don't know. It's not really something that I thought about."

"You didn't seem surprised when you came to her audition. Did you always know he was her father?"

"No," he shook his head, "I was too young to put the pieces together. I knew Fitz. I remember the summer that you guys hung out. I saw him over the years and he was always friendly but I connected the dots. When I saw Layla and Fitz together and the way you were acting, it all made sense. She is almost his twin."

Olivia smiled at him.

"You don't think I'm a horrible person?"

He shook his head, "You spin shit for a living. You've been quiet successful doing it but you have to know when to take off that hat. Don't bullshit Layla. You raised this amazing, strong, fearless young woman. Let her be that. Respect her enough to be truthful with her, especially when she asks you something directly. You owe her the truth a million times for the one lie you told."

Olivia knew that he was telling the truth but his words stung a bit. No one could ever make her feel more horrible than she made herself feel about keep Layla and Fitz a part. She realized now in the last few months how immature it was of her to play with both of their lives. She should have just came out with it years ago. She should have told Fitz from the beginning and dealt with whatever came out of it. Olivia had lost so much with her pregnancy, people in her family treated her differently, her parents hated her, her mom still hates her. At eighteen, she felt like she lost everything and everyone who mattered to her. If her family couldn't love her through this, how could some guy who she had known less than ninety days? She held onto the memory of their summer to keep her sane. She lived on fantasy, until she was able to be whole enough again to walk in her new reality. Olivia's lie that kept Fitz and Layla a part was selfishness wrapped up in good intentions. As with any lie, the longer you tell it, the harder it is to get out of it. She had to step out of her lies, all of them. Olivia made a vow from that moment on, no matter how painful or uncomfortable something was, she was going to honest with her daughter. She had to be.

* * *

Fitz looked around the room at the students all seated around the classroom. He didn't see Layla and a part of him wonder if he would. She wasn't talking to him after walking in on him and Olivia. He had called her and text her and still nothing. He wished that he had gotten a chance to talk to her before he was supposed to see her in class. Olivia had told him that she wasn't talking to her either.

More students filed in and still no Layla. Fitz grabbed his phone and texted Olivia.

 **Fitz:** _Did Layla come to school today?_

 **Livvie:** _Yeah. Why?_

 **Fitz:** _Nothing. I just haven't seen her yet. I'm a little nervous._

Their first attempt at trying to talk to Layla hadn't worked out well. She locked herself in the room and had refused to talk to them. Since they didn't really know what to say to her, they continued to give her time. It had been a week since she had caught them and now that today was the first day of class, Fitz was nervous to see Layla.

 **Livvie:** _I live with her. You'll be fine._

 **Fitz:** _I'm not you. I'm really not prepared for this._

 **Livvie:** _No one is prepared for their child to catch them with their ass out lol._

 **Fitz:** _I'm glad you find this funny._

 **Livvie:** _You have to see the humor in it. Our poor daughter caught you with your pants down and my legs up. It's funny in the most ridiculous of ways._

 **Fitz:** _It has not hit me as funny. I'm surprised you are finding the humor in this._

 **Livvie:** _I have been sad, embarrassed, I've cried about it. Talked to my brother about it. It happened. She is probably going to need LOTS of therapy because of it. All we can do is get past it now._

 **Fitz:** _I wish I had your outlook on this. I feel horrible._

 **Livvie:** _I feel bad but it happened and we can't change it._

 **Fitz:** _I hate you._

 **Livvie:** _I hate you too. Lol._

 **Livvie:** _I'm going to talk to her tonight. I think you should be here._

 **Fitz:** _What time?_

 **Livvie:** _7pm._

 **Fitz:** _I'll be there._

The bell buzzed announcing the start of class. Fitz looked up just in time to see Layla walking in. He looked at her but completely looked past him as she took an empty seat on the far right side of the room.

 **Fitz:** _She just walked in._

 **Livvie:** _Good luck._

Fitz put his phone in his pocket and stood. He was so not ready for this, especially giving his current situation with Layla. But he had a job to do so he pushed through.

"Hello. I'm Fitz Grant. You can call me Fitz or Mr. Grant but I'd prefer if you didn't because Mr. Grant is my dad," he paused to look around the room, "I'd like to welcome you all back. This year is going to be full of many first for all of us so I figured we could all learn together. Since I'm new here, today is just the getting to know you phase. We going to go around the room and introduce ourselves. You're going to say name, what is your musical talent that landed you here today, and what do you want to learn from this class."

Fitz pointed at the student sitting closes to the door.

"We'll start with you."

"Hi everyone. I'm Mikayla Wu. I play the cello and I'm interested in writing and composing music. I want to learn how to apply my talents in a more modern setting. I'm happy that I know how to play but I'm not fan of classical music enough to want to play it for the rest of my life."

"Hi. I'm Keira James. I sing and I want to learn how to make music on my own. I want to learn how to produce a song."

"I'm Myles Anderson. I make beats in my bedroom. Similar to Keira, I want to learn how to make music. I want to learn how to write and actually be taught the proper way to make music. I've been doing it on my own since I was eleven. Teaching myself things, just figuring it out so a little guidance would be nice."

They went around the room until each student had a chance to introduce themselves. Fitz took notes so that he knew how he wanted to structure the class to best teach them. After everyone introduced themselves. Fitz broke them up into groups of four and gave them their first assignment. They had one week to come up with an original song. He wanted to see what they came up with on their own and how they worked together.

Layla caught her father staring at her but she ignored him and focused on her grew members.

"This is the getting to know you, introduction day so I have to ask…," one of her group members, Anastasia Ramone stated.

Layla knew what she was going to ask but she stared at her blankly waiting for her to ask her question.

"Mr. Grant is your dad."

"He is."

"How awesome was that growing up with him?"

"It was like any other childhood."

"Did you ever go on tour with him? Why did he stop releasing albums?"

"My mom kept me pretty sheltered so no tours. He hates performing. He prefers to do his own thing. He likes making music without all politics of record labels."

"Wow. Are you nervous about having him critique you?"

"Are you?"

"A little."

"He is just a person," Layla shrugged.

"That's easy for you to say. You grew up with him. I've been trying to prepare myself for this all summer and I'm still super nervous."

"You'll do fine. We're combining talents, remember?"

Layla wanted to get off of the ' _dad_ ' subject. She knew it would come up because they weren't exactly hiding it but she didn't fully think through the questions the other students might have. She just had to get through this one day.

* * *

Layla had avoided talking to her parents long enough. She wasn't surprised to see them both sitting in the living room when she came in from being at Mia's house. She knew this conversation was coming, she actually thought it would be sooner so she didn't put up fuss when her mom called her into the living room.

She was still trying to work out her anger at being lied to. She felt a little better after spending time with her uncle Nick but she was still mad. She thought that now was the perfect time to have this talk since she wasn't seeing red anymore, she could at least listen to them.

Olivia looked at the blank expression on her daughter's face. She didn't know how to even start this conversation but an apology seemed appropriate.

"Layla, we just wanted to start off by saying how extremely sorry we are. We never meant for you to find out about us like that."

Her blank expression was hard to read but Olivia was determined to continue.

"I know that you're pissed and you have every right to be. I shouldn't have lied to you and I shouldn't have asked your dad to lie to you."

Layla rolled her eyes. She wondered if her mother knew how annoying it was that she always wanted to play the martyr.

"Last time I checked he was a grown man with a working mind."

' _Wow, she's not holding back,_ ' Fitz thought.

Layla felt the rage rising in her chest again. Maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

"You're right. I should have been honest with you when you asked me," Fitz stated calmly.

"But you care about what's between my mother's legs more than you care about me."

' _Goddamn,_ ' Fitz thought. Her words had a bite to them and they threw him off of his game. He didn't know how to respond.

"That's not fair," he said.

"This whole situation isn't fair to me," she shot back.

"Layla, I get that you're upset but you need to watch the way you speak about me."

"I haven't said anything wrong. You two care more about yourselves than you do me. I'm just this thing that you made and you feel responsible for."

"That's not true at all. We love you so much, Layla," Fitz hurt for his daughter. He could see the pain and insecurity that plagued her. She was scared and unsure.

"You don't know me, dude," Layla yelled, "You've been here a hot minute. Are you sure you even want to be here for me because it seems more like you're interested in rekindling your summer fling with my mom?"

"How can you say that? You're mad but you shouldn't let those feelings negate the relationship that we have been building all these months."

"I don't trust you, either one of you. Love is not supposed to hurt," her voice cracked. Layla took a moment to get herself together. When she spoke again her voice was calmer, "I'm your kid. I'm young. You guys think that I don't understand things but that's because you never give me a chance to. I'm tired of being lied to. I'm tired of there being something thrown at me at every turn. My whole life has been a lie. I just want you guys to be honest with me. I don't care that you two are having sex. I'm pissed off because I'm always the last to know something. You don't love or respect me enough to be honest with me and that hurts."

"I'm sorry that we made you feel like we didn't love or respect you. That is the farthest thing we wanted to do," Fitz said.

"He wanted to tell you," Olivia interjected, "I thought we should wait until we sorted out what we doing first before we told you. I was trying not to throw so much at you and confuse you. I wanted you two to build a relationship before I sprung something new on you."

"That's sounds nice until you get to the part about you lying to my face."

"If our relationship makes you uncomfortable to just say the word and we will end it."

Fitz and Layla both stared at Olivia.

"Why would you put that on me?"

"You are important to me, to us. We want you healthy and happy above anything else. If this is not something you are okay with, we will end it."

Layla knew that they both cared about her but her mother's words came off as some form of reverse psychology to manipulate her. She loved her parents but the rage she felt wasn't allowing her to get pass her hurt feelings at being lied to over and over again.

"You two can get together when I'm thirty. I had to go fifteen years without my dad because of you. You can go fifteen years without the man you like sleeping with," Layla's voice came off so cold that it scared her. She knew that she was being disrespectful but her anger wasn't allowing her to see clearly. She looked at the two people sitting in front of her and she wanted them to hurt like was hurting.

Layla registered the concern on her mother's face before anything else.

"Layla, what's wrong?"

Her mother's voice sounded as if it was hearing her from under water. She couldn't breathe. Layla grabbed her chest and tried to catch her breath.

"Hot," she managed to get out as she frantically pulled at her clothes.

Olivia and Fitz were over to her in second. The concerned looks of her parents were the last thing she saw as everything went black.


	14. Love

**A/N: Hey guys. So sorry that I haven't updated this story in a while. I hadn't realized that it was last updated in December. I have been working on this update for about a month, a month in a half. Life just got really busy for me because I'm graduating college on May 11, 2017. I been trying to stay on top of my school work to finish off strong. A paper that I wrote about Scandal got picked to be a part of a creative student work panel. I'm planning a trip for my graduation. So a lot is happening for me right now as I prepare to look for work & start my career. With less than a month & a half left in school, I hope to get back to regular updates for all my stories very soon. **

**Thank you for sticking with me & my stories & sending me messages about my stories.**

 **Sorry if you got two notifications for updates. This is the only update. The format was off the first time I updated it so I deleted it & posted it again.**

 **I hope you enjoy this update.**

* * *

 **Love**

" _At first you didn't mean that much to me but now I know that you're all I need. The world looks so brand new to me. Now that I found love. Every day I live for you and everything that I do I do it for you. What I say is how I feel so believe it's true. You got to know I'm true. Love, so many people use your name in vain. Love, those who have faith in you sometimes go astray. Love, through all the ups and downs the joy and hurt. Love, for better or worse I still will choose you first._ "—Musiq Soulchild

* * *

Fitz watched Olivia pace in circles. He lost track of how many times she had paced in the last ten minutes. They had been at the hospital for an hour. Layla was in the back getting treated for a panic attack.

"Sit down."

Olivia stopped mid-step, "Huh?"

"Sit down."

Olivia stared at him for a moment before taking a seat next to him.

"She's going to be fine."

"I know," she interlocked her arm in his and leaned into him. "I'm sorry, about what I said earlier. I don't want you to think I'm not in this."

He smiled at her.

"I wasn't worried. I know you can't get enough of me."

"Whatever," she rolled her eyes and laid her head on his shoulder. "Layla is really pissed at us."

"That is the understatement of all understatements."

"What are we going to do?"

Fitz loved that she was actually asking for his input.

"Love each other," he said, quickly adding, "I don't have any easy, quick, brilliant ideas for dealing with an angry teenager but I think if we show her how committed we are to her and our relationship, that she will eventually come around."

He shrugged, "I guess. I mean, how long can she stay mad?"

Olivia gave him a knowing look.

Fitz chuckled, "Yeah, well I know it's cliché to say but it can't get any worse."

"Ms. Pope."

Olivia looked over to the nurse who was calling her name.

"Your daughter wants to see you now."

Olivia and Fitz stood.

"Just you," the nurse clarified.

Olivia started to say something but Fitz spoke before she could.

"Go ahead."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," Fitz sat back down.

Olivia followed the nurse to the back and was showed to Layla's room. Olivia knew the exact moment she saw her daughter that Layla was about to crack. She walked over to her and once Olivia was close enough, Layla threw her arms around her.

"I'm sorry," Layla cried.

Olivia felt a little bad that she felt comfort in Layla's tearful apology.

"I said really horrible things to you," she said through tears, "I'm so sorry."

Olivia didn't want to tell Layla that what she said was okay because it wasn't but she didn't want to chastise her in this moment.

"How are you feeling?"

"Better. I don't know what happened."

"You had a panic attack. You're going to be fine."

Layla nodded, "Am I okay to go home?"

"Yeah. I can go talk to the doctor and see about getting your discharge papers."

Olivia started to pull away from her but Layla held her tighter.

"I was just so angry. That's not an excuse. I just couldn't see through my anger."

"We don't need to talk about this right now."

Olivia didn't want to risk upsetting her daughter, so she figured they would talk about this after Layla had rested. They had to have a serious talk and given all that had went on, Olivia was not up for it right now.

Olivia left the room and went to the nurses' station to see about getting Layla's discharge papers. The doctor was in with another patient so the nurse she spoke with said they would come and get her when Layla's paperwork was ready.

Olivia walked back out to the waiting room to Fitz. As if he could feel her presence as she approached him, he looked up from his phone.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm waiting for the doctor to get finish with a patient so we can get her discharge papers," she took a seat next to him.

Fitz's attention went back to his phone as he finished responding to his messages.

"I forgot my dad was supposed to be visiting me this week," he said as he put his phone away, "He is coming in two days. It's a good thing he called me because I totally forgot that he was coming."

Fitz noticed that Olivia was being quiet.

"You good?"

"Yeah," she gave him a tired smile, "Can you stay at the house tonight?"

"Yeah, sure."

Olivia kissed him.

"I really appreciate you being here."

"I wouldn't be anywhere else."

"With everything that is going on, I've been thinking and I'm really glad that you don't hate me."

Tears brimmed her eyes and she quickly rubbed them away before they could fall.

"I'm not sad. I don't even know why I'm so emotional," she shook her head, willing away whatever emotional bullshit was trying to turn her into bucket of water.

"I'm really grateful for you. I don't know how I would be able to do this without you on my side. You're there for me to lean on and I've never had before. It's really nice."

"Don't get soft on me, Liv," he said, lightening the mood.

"I'm not," she laughed, "Soft is not in my blood."

Fitz grabbed her hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed it.

* * *

Fitz days felt like they were blending together. His dad had been with in town for a few days and between work and entertaining him, Fitz didn't know where he was coming or going these last few days. He hadn't talked to Olivia and outside of school, he hadn't talked to Layla either. Fitz felt so out of the loop, and even though it had only been a few days, he missed being able to talk to Olivia.

To get out the house, Fitz and his dad went out for drinks after dinner.

"How long are you in town for?"

"It hasn't even been a week yet. Are you trying to kick me out already?"

"No. I just wanted to know how long I should expect your amazing company."

Jerry smiled at Fitz, "I was waiting for you to ask me. You don't seem like yourself. If this is bad timing, I could always stay at a hotel."

"No. It's not. Sorry. I'm not trying to make you feel like I don't want you here. I really forgot that you were coming and a lot has been happening."

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah. I'm just trying to get adjusted to teaching. Layla found out about her mother and I and she was pretty pissed at us."

"She already suspected something was going on with you two. Why is she mad?"

"She kind of walked in on Olivia and I having sex."

"Oh. Wow. That's quite the situation."

"I don't think she'll ever come back to my place again."

"I'm sure it's not that bad. She'll come around."

"She was upset that we lied to her and she really let us have it. She got so worked up that she had a panic attack. We were at the hospital when you texted him."

"How is she doing?"

"She is good, I think. I haven't really talked to her outside of class but she seems okay, less angry."

"Don't sound so scared of her, son. She is just a teenage girl."

"I'm not scared of her. I'm just trying to find my place. It's only been a few months and Olivia is learning to let me in. I'm straddling the line between being loving new dad and being stern enough to not let Layla run over me."

"Does she try to run over you?"

"Not really but she has mouth on her. I've never met anyone who can lash out with words like her. When she is mad, her mouth can be lethal. She literally turns into a whole different person."

"What type of mom is Olivia? Does she seem like the type to let Layla do what she wants?"

"At times. I don't think it was always like this but from my understanding, since meeting me, she has been getting away with a lot more than usual. Olivia has eased up a little but she is still being hard on herself for keeping us a part for so long."

"She's got to get over that. It's not the ideal situation to be in but there is no changing the past."

"She knows that but I don't know," he shrugged, "We are our own worst critics."

"I don't know much about her but she seems to be doing well for herself and Layla. There really is no need to be so hard on herself. There are plenty of people in the world who will criticize everything you do. No need to beat yourself up as well."

"Tell her that."

"I will," Jerry took a sip of his beer. "You don't mind if I talk to her, do you?"

Fitz shook his head, "Have at it."

Jerry stared at his son for a long moment.

"You two are serious?"

"Yeah."

"I'm not trying to talk you in or out of anything. I just want to make sure you are going into this for the right reasons. You are with her because you want to be, not because you feel like you have to."

"I'm not incapable of love."

"Alright. I was worried about you there for a minute. And don't say something corny like you were waiting for Olivia."

Fitz laughed.

"I'm not that corny."

"I don't know about you sometimes."

"I learned everything that I know from you."

"Don't put that on me."

Fitz really did enjoy having his father around, even if his life felt a little out of sorts. He loved talking to his father because even the simplest conversations were filled with some much wisdom and laughs.

"You should consider staying a while."

"Oh, now you want me to stay."

"Not necessarily with me the whole time but it would be nice having you around. I normally visit you once a month but now that my schedule isn't as free, you could just come out here for a few months. It will give you a chance to hang out with your granddaughter—"

"Get to know my future daughter-in-law," Jerry cut him off.

"I wouldn't take it that far."

"I'll think about."

"Okay."

* * *

Olivia looked down at her watch. In fifteen minutes she and Karen was supposed to meet with Edgar Allen's attorney to try to resolve this issue as quietly as possible. It was a meeting that senator Allen had requested once he heard that Olivia was working with Karen. The senator was trying to make this go away and Olivia decided to hear what was on the table.

A part of her wanted to just win for Karen but this was bigger than Karen. While looking into the case, her team had discovered seven other women who had been paid off to leave their jobs after being sexually harassed by the senator. Four of the women were on the list and three were not.

Keri Evans, one of the three women not on the list was very important to their case. Where the other women had been sexual harassed, Keri's story was similar to Karen's. She had been sexual assaulted and as a result got pregnant. Her son, Spencer had been born with spina bifida fourteen years ago. She spent all of the money she received from her pay out caring for her son and trying to move pass what happened to her.

Keri was hesitant to come forward but after hearing about Karen, she wanted to help. Knowing what happened to her, it was easy for her to put herself in Karen's shoes so coming forward, for Keri was not only the right thing to do but also her way of getting justice for what happened to her as well.

"Hey Liv," Abby greeted her.

"Hey. Where's Karen?"

"She's in the restroom."

"How is she?"

"She is keeping it together but I can tell she is nervous about today."

"What are you not telling me?"

"I'm worried about her."

Olivia knew that she had to talk to Karen before they went into their meeting so left Abby and headed towards the restroom to go to check on Karen.

"You're not supposed to smoke in here."

Karen turned at the sound of Olivia's voice.

"Are you going to tell on me?"

Karen took another puff of her cigarette.

"No," Olivia leaned up against the wall, "What do you want from this?"

"What do you mean?"

"What is the best outcome for you? Do you want the senator to go on the record and say that he never slept with you? Do you want a public apology? Money? Justice? What do you want, Karen?"

"I want this to be over. I want to not ruin my daughter's life."

"Do you trust me?" Olivia asked as she grabbed the cigarette from Karen's hand.

She sighed, "Olivia–"

"Do you trust me?"

"Of course I do."

"Do you want me to give it to you hard or easy?"

Karen didn't understand what Olivia was saying and it was written all over her face.

"I can do an easy pep talk and tell you how you are in an impossible situation. One that I myself don't know if I would be strong enough to handle. But you are different than any other woman that I know. You are not just strong, you use the that strength to help others. Now you need to use that strength to show a terrible man you are not afraid of him. That you are not a victim. This is your chance to show your daughter everything that she needs to know about being strong and brave," Olivia spoke in a calm, gentle voice.

"Or I can give you the hard pep talk and tell you that if you truly trust me, then act like it! I need for you to keep it together. You know how this works. You have been on the other side of this situation. If you lose it right now, everything that we are trying to do will fall apart. Don't let your emotions get to you. That's what he wants. He wants to scare you into silence. If you let him get into your head, you mine well let him violate you again. Pull it together."

Olivia's own words shocked her. She wondered if she had taken it too far, and was a little insensitive with comparing Karen not wanting to come forward to a violation. She stared at Karen, studying her to see how she had taken her words.

"I'm scared, Olivia."

"I know this is extremely difficult but we have the truth on our side. It also helps to remember that you are not doing this alone."

Karen nodded.

"Are you sure you are up for this meeting? I need all of you prepared for our interview. If this meeting is too much for you—"

"No. I'm good. If I'm going to do this, then I have to do everything."

"Okay," Olivia reached in her purse and handed Karen a mint.

Olivia and Karen left the bathroom and headed back to the main lobby to wait for their meeting. When they made it to the lobby, Olivia saw that Abby had a look on her face.

"What is it?"

"Senator Allen is here."

That was not a part of their plan. The senator and his lawyer were trying to get in Karen's head. Olivia was not about to let that happen.

"He wasn't supposed to be here so if you don't want to take this meeting, we don't have to."

"No. I have to see him sooner or later. The pep talk worked. I'm as ready as I will ever be right now."

"Okay. Give me two minutes and then you can come in."

Olivia entered the conference room and the two men stood. Senator Allen's lawyer was the first to greet Olivia.

"Olivia Pope, it's a pleasure," he held out his hand.

"Jason Todd, I wish I could say the same."

Olivia shook Jason's hand but eyed Senator Allen. She wanted him to know that although he wasn't a welcomed presence, him being here changed nothing. Olivia saw right through his attempt at scare tactics and it was not going to work.

"Oh, don't be like that. Just because we are on opposite teams here doesn't mean we have to hate each other."

"I have no feelings on you whatsoever. Your client on the other hand is a different story."

"Where is your client?" Jason tried to shift the conversation in a different direction.

"She'll be here," Olivia said as she took her seat.

"I know that the image that the media has tried to portray me as leaves less to be desired," Edgar started.

"Please don't insult my intelligence by playing yourself and me as stupid," Olivia cut him off, "You know enough of me to know that I'm not persuaded by gossip rags and media."

"The court of public opinion has a way of making people not think clearly."

"Your image in the media is not as bad as you really are."

"Ouch," Edgar feigned being hurt by putting his hand over his heart.

"We're not here to fight. We are looking to resolve this issue quickly and quietly. How can we go about doing that?"

The door opened and all eyes were on Karen as she walked in. Jason stood to greet Karen but she walked right pass him and took her seat next to Olivia.

"Sorry, I'm late," Karen said to Olivia.

It her way of trying to be composed, to show that being in the same room with the man who raped her years ago had no effect on her. Olivia could tell that Karen was nervous but appeared to be holding up okay. Olivia wanted to get this meeting over with quickly because she didn't want to have Karen been in the same room with Edgar for longer than absolutely necessary.

"Well it seems like we should get down to business."

"Hello, Karen," senator Allen greeted her to try to shake her up.

Olivia hated the senator. He was a predator in every sense of the word.

"Edgar," Karen didn't miss a beat.

"It's nice to see you. How have you been?"

Jason spoke up before Karen could say anything, "We requested this meeting because somehow Ms. King's name was included on a list of women that Mr. Allen supposedly had sexual relationships with. Ms. King and Mr. Allen have never had a sexual relationship so her being on the list brings the whole list into question. We want to get ahead of this before it gets too far away from us. With there being a child involved, we figured that working together would be in the best interest of both parties."

"Why would we work with you?"

"Karissa King. She is innocent in all of this. Why have her name be dragged through the mud over a lie?"

"Her name is already out there. There is no taking that back. Besides we have truth on our side."

"The truth is subjective. This can easily turn into a battle of he said she said. No one wants that."

"Edgar was sloppy. You have a list of women, more coming out of the woodworks claiming to have had affairs with the senator going back years. There is deposits and documents of payoffs."

"Come on, Olivia. Those are rumors spread by the media. Sensational news at best. There are no such documents because senator Allen never paid anyone off."

Olivia pulled a folder out of her purse. Opening the folder, she began taking pages out and laying them on the table one by one.

"Samantha Wallace, Erika Smith, Natalie Reynolds, Hannah Ross, Melissa Peterson, Tiffany Coleman," Olivia named women who were paid off by the senator.

Jason picked up the papers and looked over them.

"I can go on if you want me to."

"How much money do you want?" Edgar asked.

"I can't be brought," Karen looked directly at him as she spoke.

"You were brought once. What changed now?"

Jason attempted to stop Edgar from talking but he completely ignored him.

"You don't want money? Then what do you want?"

"I want to see your life ruined like you ruined mine. I want you to pay for what you did to me. Whether that ends with you under the jail or you living disgraced, out of office, I don't give a damn. But I will see you suffer."

"Ms. Pope, you should advise you client not to make threats."

"It's a promise," Olivia sat up in her seat, "We are going to make sure that this scandal ends you."

"You're willing to burn yourself just to see my house burned to the ground?"

"It will be worth it. You are not going to get to hurt any more women."

"I HAVE NEVER HURT ANYONE," he raised his voice, catching everyone off guard. "You were paid for your services. They all were. I didn't ruin your life. You are who you are because of me. You should be thanking me instead of acting like an uppity, ungrateful bitch."

"THAT IS ENOUGH," Jason yelled, finally silencing the senator.

"Karen, come on," Olivia stood from her seat, "Jason, you should really get some control over him or wash your hands of the whole situation. I would hate to see this one case be the end of your career."

With that, Olivia and Karen left the room. Senator Allen's outburst had just given her an idea. She knew how she was going to take everything away from him.

* * *

Fitz stared at the brown eyes of the short Hispanic man that was staring him down. His disposition wasn't very welcoming to say the least.

"I don't think I got your name," Fitz stated, attempting to make conversation.

"I didn't give my name."

"I'm Fitz—"

"I know who you are."

"Well that's unfair. If you know who I am, shouldn't I at least know who I am talking with?"

"Talking to. You were talking to me. I was not talking with you."

"So you're not the talkative type?"

Huck stared at Fitz but didn't say anything.

"Right."

Fitz sat back in his seat, deciding to finish waiting for Olivia in silence. Time blended together as minutes passed away. The only sound to be heard in the space the two men shared was the clock that ticked away on the wall and keys being tapped on the laptop. Before Fitz had knew it, twenty minutes had passed by. He didn't want to disturb the man who clearly didn't want to be bothered but Fitz wanted to know when Olivia would be back in her office.

"Are you sure she's coming back today?"

"What, you don't like my company?"

Fitz smiled at his attempt at making a joke. Fitz didn't know if he had some kind of social anxiety but the slight smile on his face, told Fitz that he was harmless.

"Your company is just fine."

"She's on her way up."

Fitz wondered how he knew that but didn't question him.

The sound of the elevator made Fitz look in that direction. He couldn't see the elevator from where he was sitting but he heard Olivia the moment she entered the lobby.

"Huck, I need you to watch Karen tonight. She had rough day. Abby's staying with her but an extra set of eyes couldn't hurt."

Huck nodded and Olivia turned to walk to her office, noticing Fitz for the first time.

"Hey. Is everything okay?"

"Yeah."

Olivia walked into her office and Fitz followed behind her. He watched her as she began to take off the layers of the day she had. First her heels, then her blazer. She pulled her hair into a high ponytail, walking over to the stand in the corner, Olivia poured herself a drink.

"Rough day?"

"Long day," she took a big gulp from her glass.

She refilled her glass with more of the brown liquor before walking over to him.

"I called you," Fitz took the glass from her hand.

"I know. I'm sorry. I meant to call you back. I've just been engrossed in work that I didn't have a moment to come to a full stop."

As soon as she said the words, Fitz saw her exhale, her body finally releasing the tension she was holding. This was her full stop.

Fitz leaned down and pecked her on the lips.

"Hi," he said when he pulled away.

"Hi," she kissed him again.

Before she could forget where she was, Olivia took a step back to put some distance between them.

"The case I was telling you about, we actually found other women who were sexually harassed and paid off. I have other clients now and we are prepping for a joint interview."

"Wow. That's great, right? I mean it's horrible for the women but this is good news, right?"

"Yeah. It is still a lot but it's really good. This is the best thing that could have happened for Karen. It makes my job easier and her story more believable having others to back it up."

"Are you going home soon?"

"I was going to do a little more work," Olivia leaned against her desk.

"You look tired."

"I am tired."

"Have you eaten?"

"No."

"You should probably call it a night. We can go grab something to eat?"

"Don't you have company?"

"My dad is fine being in the house alone for a few hours."

"Can I pick the place?"

"Sure," Fitz nodded.

Olivia walked around to her desk and stepped into a pair of flats. She grabbed her purse and did a final look around to make sure she had everything before letting Fitz lead her towards the elevator.

* * *

There was a line going around the block to get food from TK's Barbecue Shack. Olivia and Fitz had been waiting for fifteen minutes. There was only about twelve people ahead of them and they were close enough that Olivia could smell the food. It made her stomach growl and Olivia realized she was starving.

Olivia had been eating at from this food truck before it was a food truck, back when it was just one woman cooking and selling dinners out of her home.

Thelma Kirkwood, an eighty-three year old mother of seven started selling dinners out of her home forty years ago as a way to make some extra money. Her dinners quickly spread out of her neighborhood to all over D.C. Business was so good that she was even able to buy two vans for deliveries. Thirteen years ago, after working for years out of her house, Ms. Thelma was finally able to buy a food truck. She still cooked a lot of food in house but since buying the food truck, she didn't have people showing up at her house to buy food.

It was a beautiful family business. Two of her sons handled the deliveries while two daughters and her oldest son ran the food truck. The food truck would be in different locations throughout the week to better reach people.

"So what's the deal with Chuck," Fitz asked just to make conversation.

"Who?"

"The guy who works for you."

"Oh, Huck. He is harmless."

"He is not much of a talker."

"No. Huck is a man of very few words. He is ex-military, really good with surveillance and tech."

"Oh, that explains a lot actually."

"He keeps to himself a lot but he is learning to let people in."

Fitz could see that in his interaction with Huck.

"Do you have any free time this week?"

"What type of free time?"

"My dad wants to see Layla while he's in town so I was thinking we could all go to dinner."

Olivia did a quick mental note of her schedule to see if she had any free time. She could move things around and maybe take a personal day. Today was draining so she could use a day off to decompress.

"Tomorrow is a light day. I can move some stuff around. I can cook and we'll have dinner at my place," Olivia offered.

"Okay. That'll work."

The line moved a little faster and before they knew it, it was their turn to order.

"Hey Liv! Long time no see."

"I know. You are hard to find."

Terry smiled at her, "What can I get you?"

"I need three platters. A half a rack with mac and collards. Catfish with mac and string beans and an oxtail platter," Olivia turned to Fitz, "Did you want anything else?"

"No, I'm good."

Terry went to work putting their food together.

"This food truck has the best barbecue in D.C. You are going to love it."

"It smells amazing."

"Just wait until you taste it. You're going to fall in love."

* * *

Fitz closed his eyes and let out a moan.

"I told you. Best barbecue in the city."

"I feel the love. This was made with love, care, and consideration," Fitz took another forkful of oxtails and rice.

"You said an older lady started the food truck."

"Yes, Ms. Thelma Kirkwood. It's Terry's mom."

"Is there a Mr. Kirkwood around?"

"Are you trying to marry Ms. Thelma."

"Hell yeah, she cooking like this."

Olivia laughed.

"I'll put in a good word for you."

Olivia wasn't in a rush to get home after getting their food so she followed Fitz back to his place. He let her pick a movie and they settled in his living room to eat and watch _Gone Girl_.

They ate in silence as they watched the movie. They were almost halfway through the movie when Olivia's phone alerted her that she had a text message. She grabbed her phone off of the coffee table and opened the text message from Layla.

 **Layla:** _Working late?_

 **Olivia:** _Yes._

 **Layla:** _How late? It's after 10._

Olivia read the message but didn't respond right away.

 **Layla:** _?_

 **Olivia:** _I'm not sure._

 **Olivia:** _Is everything okay?_

 **Layla:** _Yeah. I was just wondering where you were. You didn't call._

Olivia sat her phone back on the table after reading the message.

"Work?"

"Layla."

"How is she? She seems okay in class but we really haven't had a chance to talk. Is she feeling better?"

"She's good, I guess. I haven't really been saying much to her these last few days. She hasn't had any complaints so I guess she is fine."

Fitz stared at her but said nothing. His gaze made her begin to explain herself.

"I know that probably sounds bad but I'm really upset with her. Some of her words hurt and I don't know how to just go back to acting like they didn't. I've tried so hard to be good mother and to give her the best life that she could have. It's difficult to realize that I raised a child that could talk to me the way she did. She has so much hate and anger in her soul that I don't know how to deal with. What I do know is I'm tired of apologizing and I refuse to do it anymore."

It felt good to get that out. Olivia wondered if she was being immature these last few days but she just wasn't ready to talk to her daughter. The things Layla had said in anger did hurt. She needed a few days to figure out how she was going to proceed.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me. She was way out of line. You shouldn't apologize."

"I don't want to talk about her right now."

Fitz nodded, understanding.

"Should I be concerned that you picked this crazy ass movie?" Fitz asked, changing the subject.

"It's great movie. It's one of my favorites."

"The woman is bat shit crazy."

"Yeah but sometimes crazy is good."

"I'm really concerned about you. In your line of work and with the things that you find entertaining."

"You're not too concerned seeing as you are with me."

"I'm not all the way there either."

"Normal is overrated."

Olivia sat back on the couch, pulling her leg under her. Fitz found himself staring at her. As if seeing her with new eyes, it hit him right then and there, that he was madly in love with this woman. He wanted to spend all his time with her. They didn't have to talk or do anything, just being with Olivia felt right.

* * *

Olivia woke up in bed alone. It took her a moment to realize where she was. The last thing she remembered was watching a movie with Fitz in his living room. She looked around taking in the room. This was the first time that she had actually been in Fitz's bedroom.

On the bed next to her was a note with her name on it. Olivia picked it up and read it.

 _Livvie,_

 _Sorry, I had to go to leave before you woke up._

 _Don't be mad. You looked so peaceful that I just couldn't disturb you._

 _Don't worry, my dad is friendly. Make yourself at home._

 _Love you. See you later._

 _Fitz_

She smiled at the note before grabbing her phone. It was after ten in the morning. Olivia didn't know that she was that tired. She sent a quick text Abby to make sure that everything was okay on the work front and then got up to use the bathroom.

Olivia checked her phone again after leaving the bathroom. Everything was fine at the office so Olivia sent a text to tell Abby that she wouldn't be in today. She put her shoes on, gathered all of her things, and headed downstairs.

Olivia was in such a rush to leave that she didn't see Jerry sitting in the living room.

"Leaving so soon?"

Olivia backtracked.

"Hello Mr. Grant. I didn't see you there."

"The way you were speeding out here, how could you?"

"I overslept."

"You hungry? There's food in the kitchen."

"No, thank you. I'm good."

"Coffee? Tea?"

"I'm fine."

"Do you have a minute?"

"Sure, what's up?"

Olivia stepped into the room.

"Fitz was telling me about everything going on recently with you guys and Layla. How is she doing now?"

"Physically she is fine. We haven't talked much since her last blow up."

"I heard it was pretty bad."

"It was. I've never her like that before."

"Can I offer you some advice?"

Olivia nodded.

"Don't let her run over you. You're the mother. I don't give a shit what you did in the past. She hasn't lived life long enough to know what it means to make tough decisions. Who is she to criticize the decisions you made? She has had a good life and is well taken care of. She has it good, too good even. She grew up without a father, so what? She has one now. That doesn't give her the right to act like you didn't raise her properly. Like she didn't grow up having everything she wanted and then some," Jerry paused to take a breath before continuing, "The only mistake you made was letting her feel like she was your equal. She's not. You have to lay down the law the way that you want it to be, firm and strong. Any signs of weakness, and even the best kid will step out of their place."

Olivia had been thinking since Layla had her panic attack. She knew that what her daughter need was some tough love. If they were going to have any kind of normalcy, Olivia had to take back the reins. She wasn't going to let her fifteen year old control her, no matter how hurt Layla was. Olivia was tired of being scared of damaging her daughter so much that she wasn't parenting her. She was going to have to be stern like her father was with her. Hearing Jerry's advice gave her an outside perspective that told her that she was on the right track. They still needed to have a serious talk before they could get back to normal.

"Thank you for the advice," she smiled at him, "It's refreshing to not feel so judged for what I did."

"Who cares what people think? Don't try to please everyone. Simple as that. I don't care who the person is, no one has the right to judge you because they are not walking in your shoes."

Olivia liked Jerry. She saw so much him in Fitz. They both had this calming presence. They had a way of putting things in perspective and making everything seem like it was going to be okay.

"I wasn't always the best father. I realized after my wife died that I didn't really know my son. He was twelve and I didn't know anything about him. I had to build a relationship from scratch. It was hard and at times frustrating but we made it through. Fitz and Layla will too. But you don't have to kiss her ass while they are figuring it out."

"I think what I did wrong was overcompensate for not giving her a dad. I may have also put too much on her. From the moment I had Layla, she was my everything. My daughter, my best friend, the only person who loved me unconditionally. I was alone my whole pregnancy. I was scared and ashamed of what people would think of me so I hid my pregnancy. When my dad found out he was so mad at him. He said horrible things to me and belittled me," Olivia stopped herself when she realized that she was oversharing. Talking about her pregnancy always brought up bad feelings for her. She didn't know why after all these years did her father's reaction to finding out she was pregnant still upset her so much. Maybe it was the fact that when he dragged her out of school and took her home, it was the first time she realized how really alone she was. Olivia had nobody who loved her enough to just be there for her. The moment her father found out she was pregnant, he told her aunt and the news spread like wildfire. The saint of the family had slipped up and made a mistake. She knew that her family loved her but it took a while for them to come around to her pregnancy and the idea of her having a baby. Her father didn't talk to her for months and every fear and insecurity she had come to the forefront. She heard a lot of lectures from the Pope family. It wasn't until Layla had been born that her family acted like she wasn't such a disappointment and a failure to them.

Olivia had put a lot on Layla because Layla was her baby, she didn't look at her like she saw a failure or a disappointment. Layla, as unplanned as she was, she gave Olivia love and a sense of direction for her life. Maybe she was too depended on her daughter.

"There is nothing wrong with your kid being your everything. That's actually what they are supposed to be. Not at the expense of your happiness or sanity of course."

"Yeah."

"How is your relationship with your father now?"

"We're great now," Olivia managed a smile, "We've been great for a while. He didn't stay mad at me after he saw Layla for the first time."

"The world has a way of righting itself."

It was a simple statement but Olivia knew it to be true. She had gotten through so many things in her life, she would get over whatever bump in the road this was as well.

* * *

"Fancy seeing you here," Layla said as she looked into the refrigerator.

"I live here."

"You didn't come home last night."

When Olivia didn't say anything, Layla asked, "Are you mad at me?"

"Your dad and grandfather are coming over for dinner."

"Great but you didn't answer my question."

"I would really love it if we could have one peaceful night without your dramatics."

"I wasn't trying to be dramatic. It just feels like you are mad at me."

"I'm not mad at you."

Olivia grabbed some plates from the cabinet and went to set the table.

Layla didn't know how they were supposed to have a normal family dinner if her mother acted like she didn't want to say more than few words to her.

"Did you need any help with anything?"

"No. Everything is pretty much done."

Layla headed up to her room. She pulled out her phone to text her uncle Nick.

 **Layla:** _I made a mistake and I think my mother hates me._

Instead of texting her back, Nick FaceTime her.

"Are you pregnant? I swear to God, if you are, I'm killing you and him."

"What? No. Why is that your first thought?"

"I made a mistake and I think my mother hates me," he repeated her text, "You need to better word your text."

"My mother would kill me before I had the chance to text you."

"What happened?"

Layla got him caught up on everything that had happened since they last spoke.

"You know that you are completely wrong, right?"

"Yeah."

"What is going on with you? You know better."

"I don't know how to explain it. I wasn't myself."

"You lost your mind. That's the only way to explain it."

"I have this fear that we're on borrowed time and somehow, something is going to happen and my dad is going to leave," she admitted for the first time out loud. "I thought that I was just mad because they lied to me. That's part of it but I have this fear and it is making me do stupid things."

"That's not how things work. No matter what happens between them, your dad is not just going to up and leave. You're kind of stuck with him."

She smiled but then her eyes dropped.

"I apologized to my mom but things feel different. She isn't saying much to me."

"Give her time. You said some pretty horrible things to her. It's going to take more than an ' _I'm sorry_ ' for the wounds that you opened up to heal."

"What do I do?"

"Act like you got some sense. Or the next time I see you, I'm going to beat your ass myself. You are not about to be hurting my sister."

"I thought I was going to die and the last words that I said to my mother was that she should go fifteen years without my dad since I had to go fifteen years without him," she rubbed her eyes, "I hurt her and I can tell. It's been building for months. I've been acting out because I was mad. She's been taking it because she feels guilty. We both reached our limits. I don't know what to do. Tell me what to do."

"I can't do that. I don't have the answers for you. You are more like your mother than you realize. Only you know how you can fix this. You saw how far you pushed it. Now pull back. Be the respectful, loving, caring young woman that she raised. She'll come around."

"I hope so."

* * *

Layla really enjoyed having dinner with her parents and her grandfather. She had been trying to find her footing after her panic attack. She had apologized to her mother but things around the house felt different, quieter. Her mother wasn't talking to her. Olivia wasn't giving her the silent treatment but she didn't hold conversation with her or ask her about her day. Everything just felt off for the last few days so dinner with her parents and grandfather were a welcomed change.

After dinner, they all sat around looking at pictures from Layla's childhood. Olivia and Layla shared stories about most of the pictures. They went through three boxes of pictures before Olivia excused herself to go clean the kitchen. Fitz offered to help her and that left Layla and Jerry to go through the next box of pictures.

Layla was surprised by all the pictures that her mother had of her. A lot of these she had never seen before. She found a picture of her from when she was four and her uncle Nick was nine and he was trying to teach her how to ride a bike. She took her phone out to take a picture of the photo. She had to upload this later.

Jerry stared at her. He had been waiting for the right time all night to talk to her but with all the positive energy going on, he didn't have a chance to. Since they were finally alone, he figured it was either speak now or forever hold your piece.

"Layla."

"Yeah," she looked up from the stack of pictures she was going through.

"Your dad told me about your panic attack, and everything that's been going on with you."

"Okay."

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm good."

"Great. Now the things that you said to your parents, you should be ashamed of yourself."

"It wasn't my finest moment."

"You have to respect your parents."

"I respect them," Layla didn't want to sound defensive but she felt that she should be. "I apologized to my mom for the things I've said."

"As you should. But apologizing doesn't change what you said or how you hurt your mother."

"I don't know what I'm supposed to do if an apology is not enough."

"You're a spoiled little girl. You've been given the world so you feel as though everyone owes you something. They don't."

"You don't really know me well enough to make that assumption."

"It's not an assumption. That is the way your behavior portrays you. I may not have known you all of your life but I know enough to see right through you. You don't know yourself. If you did, you would get over trying to play victim and being angry. You would stop trying to justify bad behavior as hurt feelings. You've had it too easy with a young mom who overcompensates for one dumb decision she's made."

Layla didn't say anything. She didn't know how she was supposed to respond. She knew his assessment of here wasn't completely off base. She had been acting like a spoiled brat lately. She was trying to fix everything that she had done and she thought that apologizing to her mom would have made things better. Obviously it didn't. Her mom's behavior the last few days and now this lecture, told her that everything was still very wrong between her and her mother.

"I'm not going to handle you with kid gloves because from my understanding, you want to be treated like the mature young lady that you think you are. I'm not going to sugarcoat things because you can handle it all, right?" Jerry didn't wait for her to answer before he continued, "You mother was three years older than you are right now when she had you. Do you think that you would be able to go to school, work, and take care of a baby?"

"No."

"Your mother did that all of that. She worked her ass off so that she could provide the best life for you. Until you take a walk in your mother's shoes, you don't get to judge the steps that got her here. You don't get to disrespect her and act like you hate her because you disagree with her."

"I don't hate my mom."

"Well she is not feeling the love right now."

"I don't know what you want me to say. Anything that I say will sound like an excuse instead of an explanation."

"You don't have to say anything. Just be better. I don't think that you are a bad kid. I just think that you have lost your way with all the changes that has hit you in recent months."

She was silent for a moment, contemplating if she was going to say what was on her mind. This was a very vulnerable position for her to be in. She didn't quite have a handle on her emotions so sharing them were hard to do. Being truthful in this moment was the best thing that she could do.

"I was talking to my uncle and I realized that I wasn't just angry because they lied to me. I have this fear that something is going to happen and he is going to leave," she admitted. "I don't…I didn't want to share my dad. I don't want to get use to the idea having a complete family and then have it snatched away from me. I know it probably sounds irrational but I went fifteen years without my dad. It still feels surreal having him around. I'm scared that I'm going to lose him again."

Layla wiped away the tears that fell down her face. Speaking her fear out loud brought an emotion that she didn't know how to handle. She knew that Fitz wasn't going anywhere but she couldn't silence the fear.

Jerry walked over to her and pulled her into a hug. He didn't say speak or try to offer her soothing words, he just held her.

As if being so honest was too much for her, Layla pulled away from him. She picked up stack of photos she was looking at.

"I found this really cute picture of my uncle Nick and I," she showed him the photo. "This is from the summer he spent with us when he was nine. I bugged him to teach me how to ride a bike because I wanted to be able to keep up with him. I didn't even know my mom took this picture."

Jerry allowed her to change the subject and the two went back to looking at photos and sharing memories.

* * *

"LP!"

Anastasia tapped Layla, bringing her back to the present.

"What?"

"We're trying to come up with songs for the next assignment. We have to have a song picked out before we leave class today. Don't think you can slack off because your dad is teaching the class."

Layla forced a smile to avoid rolling her eyes. She didn't think that Anastasia meant anything by it but it had only been a week and a half in school, and she was always making comments implying that Layla would get special treatment because Fitz was her father. It was annoying but Anastasia was annoying to her.

Anastasia Ramone was a really bubbly girl, who loved everything pop culture. She wanted to be the next Beyoncé. Anastasia had an energy like Layla had never seen before. She insisted on giving everyone in their group nicknames and she wanted them to hang out with each other outside of class.

They were currently working on their second assignment, where they had to remix a song from any genre or artist.

"I suggested that we do one of Mr. Grant's songs," Anastasia said in her energetic voice that made Layla want to punch her in the throat.

Layla shook her head, "That's a terrible idea."

"You think so? I think he will be flattered that we tried remix his song."

"It makes us seems like suck ups. You guys already got it bad with me on your team so I wouldn't push it by picking a song of the teacher."

Noah stared at her, "Why do you think you being in this group is bad?"

"People may think like Anastasia does. That since he is my dad, I get to slack off or that we won't be judged fairly because of me."

"I was kidding."

"I'm sure," Layla said in an unconvinced tone.

"We wrote down artist names that we liked so we can pick between their songs," Mikayla said, trying to change the subject before things got heated.

"I was here," Layla didn't want to sound like she had an attitude but she did. She knew everything that was going on even if it looked like she wasn't paying attention. "Beyoncé, Adele, Bruno Mars, Rihanna, Ed Sheeran," Layla called off all the names that was on their list.

Noah smiled at her.

"What do you suggest? Clearly you don't like any of our picks." Mikayla asked.

"I don't have a problem with any of the artist you guys picked. They're just really popular artist. Everyone is going to try to do Beyoncé or Rihanna song. We need to think outside of the box. It's more fun to play with something completely different than everyone else is going to go with."

As she was talking an idea popped into her head.

"You got something," Noah said.

"Before He Cheats by Carrie Underwood."

"I don't think I know that song."

" _I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped-up four-wheel drive. Carved my name into his leather seats. I took a Louisville slugger to both head lights. I slashed a hole in all four tires. Maybe next time he'll think before he cheats_ ," Layla sang the chorus as she searched for the song on her phone.

She found the song on YouTube and played it.

"A country song," Anastasia said flatly.

"Yeah."

"Over Beyoncé?"

"Outside the box, remember?"

"I've heard the song before. It's nice. Not something I listen to all the time but it's okay," Mikayla said, "What are you thinking we do with this song?"

"It's a song about cheating so we do it as a parties involved," she looked at Noah, "I write something about you cheating on me."

"I'm the cheater?"

"You're the only guy in the group so yeah."

"Alright, continue."

"I write something about you cheating on me and then you come in with response. It's like we are having a lovers' quarrel and then in comes Anastasia with her verse as the other woman."

"So I have to be a homewrecker?"

"He lied to both of us."

"Wow. I'm just the bad guy all around here."

"Beautiful Liar," Anastasia found a way to bring it back to Beyoncé.

"Exactly."

"I like it," Mikayla took notes.

"Did you want a verse?" Layla asked.

"Oh, no. I can't sing," Mikayla shook her head.

"Are you comfortable with handling the music?"

"Yeah."

"I'll help with that," Noah threw out.

"I have some ideas for the music."

"That quickly? You literally just came up with the idea."

" _Just gonna stand there and watch me burn. But that's alright, because I like the way it hurts. Just gonna stand there and hear me cry. But that's alright, because I love the way you lie. I love the way you lie. Gave you everything I had. It's your bad that you messed up. Never knew that me, myself, and I was all I needed but now guess what? I've living better now. Never looking back again. Didn't expect this type of pain to come from a friend, lover, homie, everything…_ ," Layla sang off the top of her head. "I know that's not best but that's what just popped in my head. We can all throw in a line or two from artist or songs that we like."

She looked over at Anastasia, "I was thinking the siren from Beyoncé's _Ring The Alarm_ could be your intro. Before music even starts playing, my intro is when I sing the chorus to _Love The Way You Lie_. Then the music starts and I sing what I wrote. The chorus is still the same. Noah raps his verse and then the _Ring The Alarm_ siren plays before you start singing what you wrote."

They all stared at her.

"Or we could do something completely different if you guys want to. I don't want to take over."

"No, we're going with your idea," Noah said firmly.

Anastasia and Mikayla nodded in agreement.

* * *

Layla cut through the parking lot as she left school. She was in her own world, listening to music as she walked. When the song changed, she thought she heard someone calling her name. Pulling the earbuds from her ears, Layla turned around to see Anastasia running towards her.

"Are you following me?" Layla asked when Anastasia was standing in front of her.

"Maybe a little."

"That's a little creepy."

"I wanted to talk to you."

"Talk."

"I'm picking up some tension," she motioned between them, "If I offended you, I want to apologize. I wasn't trying to imply that you would get special treatments."

"You didn't offend me. It's just not needed to bring up he is my dad in every other sentence. I'm my own person. I just wanted to make that clear before we went through a school year of you reminding me who my dad is."

"Noted," Anastasia smiled at her.

"So I was thinking maybe we could get together this weekend and work on our song?"

Layla suspected that she was only trying to get close to her because Fitz was her father. She wanted to tell her that Fitz didn't live with her so it was really no point of them getting together. But instead of being rude, she decided to be nice and give the girl a chance. It had only been a week and a half in school. They were going to be seeing a lot of each other so they better start getting along now. She could be a really good person, even though she rubbed Layla the wrong way.

"Sure. Text me and we can meet up."

"Sounds great. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

They went their separate ways and Layla continued to walk through the parking lot. She was almost at the opening in the fence that led to the main street when she saw her dad. She took a detour to see him.

"What up, Mr. G?"

"Hey."

"Am I allowed to ask for a ride home? Or is that inappropriate since you're on teacher duty."

"I'm always on dad duty so no, it's not inappropriate at all. Besides, it's after school. I'm not on teacher duty."

"Still on school grounds. I'm not trying to get you fired."

"I'm not worried."

Layla walked around to the passenger side and climbed into the car. Fitz got in the car and pulled out of the parking lot. Once he was off of the school grounds he turned on the car radio and J. Cole's _Wet Dreamz_ continued from his morning commute.

"Wow," Layla laughed.

Fitz pressed the skip button and the next song wasn't any better as J. Cole's _G.O.M.D_ started to play.

"Leave it," Layla said before he could change the song again, "I like this song."

Fitz glanced over at her and she laughed.

"I can't believe you listen to this kind of music though."

"You sound like your mother."

"I don't know if you know this but you're an average looking white dude in your mid thirties."

"Wound me, kid."

"I just didn't expect J. Cole to be on your hit list."

"I listen to all kinds of music."

"I see. Can you dance?"

"No but I can clap on beat if that's what you're wondering."

She giggled.

Layla was silent for a moment.

"I'm sorry about what I said."

"About me being an average looking white dude?"

"No," she shook her head, "For everything I said last week. I was angry. Madder than I have ever been in my whole life and I couldn't see pass my anger. I said very harsh things to you and my mom. I apologized to mom and now I'm apologizing to you."

"That's very mature of you."

"I'm trying. I haven't been acting my age. I'm trying to fix everything that I've done."

"Apologizing is always a good start."

They rode in silence for a little bit just listening to J. Cole.

"Is my mom mad at me?" Layla asked breaking the silence.

"Her feelings are hurt but I don't think she is mad at you."

"I want to do something nice for her. Something to say I'm extremely sorry for being an awful person. Can you help me with that?"

"Sure. What did you have in mind?"


End file.
